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Horace 

Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 


Nee  tua  laudabis  studia  aut  aliena  reprendes, 
Nee,  cum  venari  volet  ille,  poemata  panges. 
EP.  I,  18 

Do  not  praise  your  own  pursuits  or  censure  those  of  your  friend ; 
And  if  he  wishes  to  hunt,  do  not  insist  on  scribbling  verses. 


Horace:  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

" Crescam  laude  recens" 

The  Letters  of  Horace  Presented 
to  Modern  Readers 


Edited  by 
Charles  Loomis  Dana  and  John  Cotton  Dana 


The  Elm  Tree  Press   Woodstock  Vermont 
1911 


Copyright 

The  Elm  Tree  Press 

1911 


TV -"ft      I   l-Y-i  I w..yi  /r^-w-^..,-» 


P#63^ 

A^ 

Mlfc 

CONTENTS 

PwiN 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 

ix 

The  Sabine  Farm 

xi 

Rome  at  the  Time  of  the 

Epistles 

xiv 

THE  FIRST  BOOK 

To  Maecenas 

1 

To  Lollius  Maximus 

9 

To  Julius  Florus 

15 

To  the  Poet  Tibullus 

18 

To  Maecenas 

20 

To  Claudius  Tiberius  Nero 

27 

To  Aristius  Fuscus 

30 

To  Iccius 

34 

To  the  Steward  of  his  Farm 

37 

To  Quinctius 

40 

To  Lollius  Maximus 

46 

To  His  Book 

53 

THE  SECOND  BOOK 

To  Augustus  Caesar 

55 

To  Julius  Florus 

66 

Letter  to  the  Pisos  on  the 

Art  of  Poetry 

78 

Horace,  from  a  medal  of  about  the  fourth  century.  The  figure  on  the 
reverse  is  that  of  the  poet  Accius,  to  whose  "famous  trimeters"  Horace 
alludes  in  the  Art  of  Poetry. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


A  Rule  of  Friendship 

Horace  Medal,  Accius  on  reverse 

Horace  Medal,  horse  on  reverse 

Horace  Medal,  from  a  replica 

Map,  Valley  of  the  Licenza 

Map,  Rome  and  vicinity 

Licenza  from  the  supposed  site  of  Horace's  house 

Pavement  on  the  supposed  site  of  Horace's  house 

Mount  Lucretilis  and  the  Sabine  Farm 

Culture's  Humanizing  Power 

Good  Books  and  High  Resolves 

Baiae,  the  Baia  of  Today 

Well  Begun  is  Half  Done 

Valley  of  the  Licenza,  from  a  photograph 

Independence  is  Better  than  Wealth 

In  Praise  of  Health  and  a  Competence 

Varia,  the  Vicovaro  of  Today 

Entrance  to  the  Sabine  Farm 

Love  of  Right  Keeps  the  Good  from  Wrong 

Greed  of  Gain  Leads  to  Neglect  of  Duty 

Valley  of  the  Licenza,  from  an  old  print 

Licenza,  drawing  from  a  photograph 

Advice  to  the  Ambitious 


PAGE 

Frontispiece 

v 

vii 

ix 

x 

xii 

xiv 

xvi 

xviii 

2 
10 
12 
14 

30 
32 
34 
36 
38 
40 
42 
44 
50 
84 


Horace,  from  a  medal  of  about  the  fourth  century. 


HORACE:  A  MEDAL  OF  ABOUT  THE  FOURTH 
CENTURY.  PROBABLY  BASED  ON  A  PORTRAIT 
BUST  IN  EXISTENCE  AT  THAT  TIME.  THE 
REVERSE  OF  THIS  MEDAL,  SHOWN  ON 
ANOTHER  PAGE,  BEARS  A  FIGURE  OF  THE 
POET  ACCIUS. 


INTRODUCTION 


Such  was  Horace,  an  author  of  much  civility ;  and  ( if  any 
one  among  the  heathen  can  be)  the  best  master  both  of  virtue 
and  wisdom ;  an  excellent  and  true  judge  upon  cause  and 
reason  ;  not  because  he  thought  so,  but  because  he  knew  so,  out 
of  use  and  experience. 

Ben  Jonson  in  "Discoveries. " 

Horace  is  the  most  popular  and  after  Virgil  perhaps  the  most 
esteemed  of  Latin  writers.  His  letters  it  is  agreed  are  the  most 
interesting  and  most  characteristic  portion  of  his  work.  They  do 
not  represent  the  highest  type  of  his  poetic  art,  but  they  best 
reveal  his  personality  and  his  philosophy  of  life.  They  were 
drawn  upon  more  than  the  Odes  and  Satires  by  the  older 
writers  who  published  emblemata  and  quoted  his  moralities. 
These  letters,  however,  are  not  interesting  in  English  as  generally 
presented.  The  poetic  translations,  even  the  most  skilful  and 
conscientious,  do  not  make  good  poetry,  or  tell  the  story  satis- 
factorily. There  have  been  no  prose  translations  so  far  as  we  can 
find  which  make  the  letters  easy  or  attractive  reading. 

But  there  is  so  much  merit  in  the  material,  that  it  seems 
possible  to  present  it  in  a  way  which  may  interest  the  modern 
public  ;  at  any  event  we  have  thought  the  attempt  worth  while. 

This  does  not  mean  that  we  have  tried  to  put  the  text  into 
superior  English  or  to  adorn  and  uplift  it  with  the  devices  of 
literary  art.  This  is  not  needed  in  order  to  make  a  letter  of 
Horace's  readable  and  understandable.    The  effort  rather  has 


x  Horace:    Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

been  to  give  the  facts  regarding  the  personality  of  the  people  to 
whom  the  writings  are  addressed ;  to  tell  of  the  time  and  occa- 
sion of  writing  and  supply  the  local,  historical  and  mythological 
references,  also  to  keep  the  thread  of  the  story  and  show  the 
connection  of  the  reasoning. 

All  this  has  been  done  in  the  notes  of  various  learned 
editors,  from  Orelli,  Dacier  and  MacLeane  to  Wilkin.  But  a 
combination  of  these  data  with  a  somewhat  embellished  English 
translation  has  not  heretofore  been  attempted.  It  is  impossible 
to  follow  the  connection  and  meaning  of  Horace  in  these  days 
without  here  and  there  extending  the  text  and  interpolating 
explanations.  To  the  ordinary  translation  there  must  be 
some  additions.  With  these  and  using  as  a  basis  a  standard 
translation  we  hope  to  give  to  the  Letters  a  certain  modernity 
and  life. 

Horace's  philosophy  does  not  require  much  text  and  he  often 
repeats  his  views  to  the  point  of  being  tiresome, — when  stripped 
of  his  art.  Hence  it  has  seemed  best  to  publish,  at  first  at  least, 
only  a  portion  of  the  letters,  selecting  those  generally  esteemed 
as  the  best  and  most  representative. 

To  the  modern  reader  we  feel  sure  there  will  develop  some 
interest  in  the  work  for  reasons  other  than  the  merit  of  the  lines. 

Here  is  the  picture  of  an  amiable  pagan  striving  earnestly  to 
find  out  the  meaning  of  life.  His  efforts  are  so  persistent,  so 
sincere,  so  full  of  art,  but  yet  in  such  narrow  range  that  they  seem 
in  a  way  pathetic.  His  views  are  to  us  now  almost  puerile  in  their 
simplicity.  Yet  he  uses  his  ethical  ideals  seriously  in  an  effort  to 
fight  the  corruption  of  the  day  and  build  up  better  citizens.  He 
attacks  with  simple  morality  exactly  the  same  vices  we  are  com- 
bating now  with  all  the  forces  of  philosophy,  religion,  education 
and  hygiene.  After  all,  Horace's  philosophy  would  be  enough 
if  he  were  to  add  to  it  the  idealism  and  higher  religious  feelings 
of  to-day. 


.   •■■■■'■ 


"ivolhy-milcs      R,pme    25rnilo 


VALLEY  OF  THE  L1CENZA,  THE  DIGENTIA  OF 
HORACE'S  DAY,  SHOWING  THE  SITES  OF 
HORACES  VILLA  ACCORDING  TO  CHAUPY 
AND  ACCORDING  TO  ROSA. 

The  photographs  reproduced  elsewhere  in  this  book  were 
taken  on  the  assumption  that  Horace's  villa  was  at  the  si'.e 
according  to  Chaupy. 


Introduction  xi 

Another  thing  which  must  interest  the  modern  reader  is  the  fact 
that  such  moral  essays.parables.and  preachings  as  those  of  Horace 
were  sent  to  prominent  men  of  the  day  ;  the  Emperor,  his  minis- 
ters, great  lawyers  and  men  of  affairs,  were  apparently  glad  to 
receive  verse  telling  them  to  be  good,  to  avoid  avarice,  to  give 
up  ambition,  to  be  honest  and  faithful  to  their  friends,  to  lead  a 
modest  life. 

Such  things  are  sent  out  to-day  from  the  pulpit ;  but  who 
among  our  poets  would  dare  address  a  minister  of  state  in  per- 
sonal hexameters  telling  him  that  the  first  step  toward  wisdom 
is  to  avoid  folly  ?  There  was  a  living  interest  in  poetry  and  ethics 
among  the  ancient  Romans,  or  great  Augustus  would  not  have  felt 
hurt  that  he  himself  did  not  get  an  epistle  showing  how  persons 
ought  to  behave. 

Finally,  as  in  his  Satires  and  Odes,  Horace  in  his  Letters  reveals 
often  his  own  character  and  habits  and  history ;  so  that  all  of 
them  sooner  or  later  has  some  touch  which  awakens  the 
reader. 

We  trust  that  some  of  these  things  will  be  found  and  appre- 
ciated by  the  modern  reader  of  the  letters  of  our  immortal 
Augustan. 

THE  SABINE  FARM 

Horace  was  living  at  his  home  in  the  Sabine  valley  during 
a  large  portion  of  the  time  in  which  he  wrote  his  letters.  He 
wrote  at  least  one  of  them  from  this  region.  He  describes 
it  in  another  letter  (  XVI)  ;  and  he  discusses  the  morals  of  rural 
life  with  his  steward  in  Epistle  XIV. 

So  much  of  his  philosophy  and  his  happiness  depended  on  or 
were  interwoven  with  his  Sabine  life  that  we  have  felt  justified 
in  presenting  this  particular  background  to  our  readers  in  some 
detail.  We  shall  not  enter  into  the  discussion,  sometimes 
acrimonious,  of  the  discovery  and  early  description  of  the 
region ;  but  pass  at  once  to  the  modern  situation. 


xii  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

Most  visitors  to  Rome  travel  up  to  Tivoli,  called  Tibur  in 
Augustan  times,  to  see  the  Baths  of  Hadrian,  and  what  is 
called  the  villa  of  Horace.  It  is  doubtful  if  Horace  ever  really 
had  a  house  at  Tivoli,  but  he  stayed  there  often  as  the  guest  of 
Maecenas. 

About  twelve  miles  above  Tivoli  is  the  Sabine  region,  where 
he  had  his  farm  and  his  country  home.  The  river  Digentia  runs 
through  the  valley  and  empties  into  the  Anio. 

In  the  summer  of  1910  we  obtained  the  services  of  Signor 
Loescher  of  Rome  who  sent  a  photographer  to  the  Sabine 
Valley.  He  uncovered  and  photographed  the  long-buried 
mosaic  pavement  of  the  supposed  villa  of  Horace,  and  obtained 
other  views  of  the  more  familiar  points,  some  of  which  are 
reproduced  here.  There  are  no  other  photographs  of  modern 
views  of  this  region  so  far  as  we  can  find ;  though  there  are  a 
good  many  old  engravings  which  reproduced  it,  somewhat 
idealized,  as  it  appeared  one  hundred  years  ago.* 

In  September,  1  842,  Mr.  G.  Dennis  visited  the  Sabine  Farm 
and  wrote  a  very  charming  description  of  his  investigations  of  the 
spot.  His  letter  addressed  to  the  Rev.  Henry  Hart  Milman  is 
published  in  Milman's  well-known  edition  of  Horace's  works. 
Mr.  Dennis's  description  fits  in  so  well  with  the  photographic 
views  which  we  have  obtained  of  the  valley  of  the  Digentia  that 
we  venture  to  insert  it  here  : 

"  If  you  follow  the  banks  of  the  Anio,  eight  miles  above 
Tivoli  you  reach  Vico  Varo — the  Varia  mentioned  by  the  poet 
as  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  Farm,  and  probably  at  that  time 

the  nearest  town. 

****** 

"  It  is  now  a  small  place,  standing  on  a  steep  rock,  overhang- 
ing the  road,  and  still  preserving  fragments  of  its  ancient  walls  of 
rectangular  masonry.    You  presently  leave  the  Anio,  and  enter 

*  The  Italian  government  is  again  investigating  this  region. 


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SKETCH  MAP  OF  THE  COUNTRY  FROM  THE 
MEDITERRANEAN  TO  HORACE'S  FARM.  SCALE, 
ABOUT  16  MILES  TO  THE  INCH. 


Introduction  xiii 

a  valley  which  opens  to  the  north.  On  a  height  which  rises  to 
the  right  stand  two  villages,  Cantalupo  and  Bardela ;  the  latter 
is  supposed  to  be  the  Mandela,  which  the  poet  describes  as 
rugosus  frigore  pagus ;  and,  certes,  it  stands  in  an  airy  position, 
at  the  point  of  junction  of  the  two  valleys.  You  soon  come  to  a 
small  stream,  of  no  remarkable  character,  but  it  is  the  Digentia, 
the  gelidus  rious,  at  which  the  poet  was  wont  to  slake  his  thirst 
—  me  quoiies  reficit — and  which  flows  away  through  the 
meadows  to  the  foot  of  the  said  hill  of  Bardela — quern  Man- 
dela hibit.  You  are  now  in  the  Sabine  valley,  so  fondly  loved 
and  highly  prized. 

Cur  valle  permutem  Sabina 
Divitias  operosiores  ? 

Why  would  I  exchange  burdensome  riches  for  my  Sabine  valley. 

1  A  long  lofty  ridge  forms  the  left-hand  barrier  of  the  valley.  It 
is  Lucretilis.  Sir  John  Hobhouse  says  it  is  now  called  Campa- 
nile— but  every  peasant  will  point  you  out  "  Lucretile."  It  has 
no  striking  features  to  attract  the  eye — with  its  easy  swells, 
undulating  outline,  and  slopes  covered  with  wood,  it  well  merits 
the  title  of  amaenus,  though  that  was  doubtless  due  to  its  grate- 
ful shade,  rather  than  to  its  appearance.  Ere  long  you  espy, 
high  up  beneath  the  brow  of  the  mountain,  a  village  perched  on 
a  precipitous  grey  cliff.  It  is  Rocca  Giovane,  now  occupying  the 
site  of  the  ruined  temple  of  Vacuna,  of  which  more  anon. 

n  Five  or  six  miles  up  this  valley  bring  you  to  the  foot  of  a  conical 
height,  on  which  stands  the  said  town  of  Licenza;  while  still 
loftier  heights  tower  behind,  from  which  the  village  of  Civitella, 
apparently  inaccessible,  looks  down  on  the  valley  like  an  eagle 
from  its  eyrie.  In  the  foreground  a  knoll  crested  with  chestnuts, 
rising  some  eighty  or  hundred  feet  above  the  stream,  marks  the 
site  of  the  much-sung  Farm. 

n  This  knoll  stands  at  the  bend  of  the  stream,  or  rather  at  the 
point  where  several  rivulets  unite  to  form  the  Digentia.  Behind 


Introduction  xiii 

a  valley  which  opens  to  the  north.  On  a  height  which  rises  to 
the  right  stand  two  villages,  Cantalupo  and  Bardela ;  the  latter 
is  supposed  to  be  the  Mandela,  which  the  poet  describes  as 
rugosus  frigore  pagus ;  and,  certes,  it  stands  in  an  airy  position, 
at  the  point  of  junction  of  the  two  valleys.  You  soon  come  to  a 
small  stream,  of  no  remarkable  character,  but  it  is  the  Digentia, 
the  gelidus  rivus,  at  which  the  poet  was  wont  to  slake  his  thirst 
—  me  quotits  reficit — and  which  flows  away  through  the 
meadows  to  the  foot  of  the  said  hill  of  Bardela — quern  Man- 
dela bibit.  You  are  now  in  the  Sabine  valley,  so  fondly  loved 
and  highly  prized. 

Cur  valle  permutem  Sabina 
Divitias  operosiores? 
Why  would  I  exchange  burdensome  riches  for  my  Sabine  valley. 

1  A  long  lofty  ridge  forms  the  left-hand  barrier  of  the  valley.  It 
is  Lucretilis.  Sir  John  Hobhouse  says  it  is  now  called  Campa- 
nile— but  every  peasant  will  point  you  out  n  Lucretile."  It  has 
no  striking  features  to  attract  the  eye — with  its  easy  swells, 
undulating  outline,  and  slopes  covered  with  wood,  it  well  merits 
the  title  of  amaenus,  though  that  was  doubtless  due  to  its  grate- 
ful shade,  rather  than  to  its  appearance.  Ere  long  you  espy, 
high  up  beneath  the  brow  of  the  mountain,  a  village  perched  on 
a  precipitous  grey  cliff.  It  is  Rocca  Giovane,  now  occupying  the 
site  of  the  ruined  temple  of  Vacuna,  of  which  more  anon. 

"  Five  or  six  miles  up  this  valley  bring  you  to  the  foot  of  a  conical 
height,  on  which  stands  the  said  town  of  Licenza ;  while  still 
loftier  heights  tower  behind,  from  which  the  village  of  Civitella, 
apparently  inaccessible,  looks  down  on  the  valley  like  an  eagle 
from  its  eyrie.  In  the  foreground  a  knoll  crested  with  chestnuts, 
rising  some  eighty  or  hundred  feet  above  the  stream,  marks  the 
site  of  the  much-sung  Farm. 

1  This  knoll  stands  at  the  bend  of  the  stream,  or  rather  at  the 
point  where  several  rivulets  unite  to  form  the  Digentia.  Behind 


xiv  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

the  knoll  stood  the  Farm.  A  few  remains  of  brick  wall,  a  scat- 
tered fragment  or  two  of  columns,  not  of  marble  or  other  foreign 
materials,  but  of  ordinary  travertine,  and  a  small  piece  of  mosaic 
pavement,  mark  the  exact  site. 

Non  ebur  neque  aureum 

Mea  renidet  in  domo  lacunar ; 
Non  trabes  Hymettiae 

Premunt  columnas  ultima  recisas 
Africa. 

Nor  gold  nor  ivory  inlaid, 
Nor  cedars  from  Hymettus  torn, 
Nor  Libyan  marble  colonnades 
My  humble  home  adorn. 

1  The  Farm  is  situated  on  a  rising  ground,  which  sinks  with  a 
gentle  slope  to  the  stream,  leaving  a  level  intervening  strip,  now 
yellow  with  the  harvest.  In  this  I  recognize  the  pratum  apricum 
which  was  in  danger  of  being  overflowed.  The  aprica  rura 
were  probably  then,  as  now,  sown  with  com — purae  rivus 
aquae,  et  segetis  certa  fides  meae.  Here  it  must  have  been  that 
the  poet  was  wont  to  repose  after  his  meal :  prope  rivum 
somnus  in  herba ;  and  here  his  personal  efforts,  perhaps,  to  dam 
out  the  stream,  provoked  his  neighbors  to  a  smile." 
Rident  vicini  glebas  et  saxa  moventem. 
ROME  AT  THE  TIME  OF  THE  EPISTLES 

At  the  time  of  the  writing  of  most  of  Horace's  letters,  B. 
C.  27  to  B.  C.  19,  the  Empire  of  Rome  was  in  a  state  of 
comparative  peace. 

Octavianus,  having  destroyed  Rome's  last  formidable  enemy, 
Egypt,  had  poured  the  treasures  of  that  country  into  Italy.  He 
had  made  himself  Proconsul,  Princeps,  Imperator,  and  Augustus 
and  he  practically  held  everything  in  his  own  hand.  Because 
he  was  Proconsul,  he  was  lord  of  all  the  provinces,  and  as 
Imperator,  he  had  complete  command  of  the  army.  Incidentally, 
he  was  the  richest  man  in  the  world.  He  could,  therefore,  safely 


VIEW  OF  LICENZA  FROM  THE  VINEYARD  IN 
WHICH  IS  THE  MOSAIC  PAVEMENT  ON  THE 
SUPPOSED  SITE  OF  HORACES  HOUSE. 


Introduction  xo 

leave  Rome,  where  there  was  no  army,  and  stay  in  Spain  or  in 
the  East  with  his  troops,  and  this  is  what  he  did  a  good  part  of 
the  period  in  question.  While  thus  occupied,  he  fought  the 
Cantabrians  in  Spain  and  secured  some  temporary  victories  ;  but 
was  taken  ill  and  returned  to  Rome ;  to  be  cured  by  Anto- 
nius  Musa. 

He  sent  his  stepson  Tiberius  to  the  East  to  conquer  Armenia. 
Later,  he  himself  went  to  the  East  and  proceeded  to  reorganize 
the  governments  of  Greece,  Asia  Minor  and  Egypt.  He  made 
certain  important  but  unduly  magnified  conquests  in  Asia  Minor. 

It  was  about  this  time,  B.  C.  29,  when  he  was  only  thirty-four 
years  of  age,  that  the  Temple  of  Janus  was  closed.  It  was  during 
this  period  that  he  attempted  to  reform  the  morals  and 
manners  of  the  Romans,  enacting  laws  to  encourage  marriage 
and  increase  the  birth-rate,  and  trying  to  renew  among  the 
citizens  of  Rome  the  old  feelings  of  patriotism  and  reverence  for 
the  gods  and  the  ancient  customs.    He  was  not  very  successful. 

The  Romans  were  still  passionately  attached  to  their  aristo- 
cracy and  the  belief  was  general  that  only  the  nobility  could 
manage  public  affairs.  So  Augustus  recalled  the  historical 
aristocracy  to  power  and  helped  many  of  them  with  money  as 
well  as  offices. 

During  the  third  decade  B.  C.  there  were  no  great  military 
events,  but  the  Cantabrians  in  Spain  were  finally  conquered  and 
Phraates,  King  of  Armenia,  restored  to  the  Romans  the  standards 
that  had  been  taken  from  them  a  quarter  of  a  century  before. 
The  Emperors  favorite  nephew,  Marcellus,  died  in  this 
decade,  and  Augustus  united  his  fortunes  more  firmly  with  that 
of  his  great  general,  Agrippa,  by  giving  him  his  daughter  Julia, 
widow  of  Marcellus,  in  marriage. 

The  period  then  was  one  of  great  activity  in  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  dependencies  of  Rome,  and  also  in  attempts  at  social 
and  administrative  reform  among  the  citizens  of  Rome  themselves. 


xvi  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

The  period  of  Horace's  letter-writing  was  also  one  of  great  liter- 
ary activity.  Associated  with  three  great  patrons  of  the  Muses, 
Pollio,  Messala  and  Maecenas,  were  groups  of  major  and  minor 
poets,  as  well  as  of  rhetoricians,  orators  and  writers  of  history. 
Virgil  (70  B.C.- 19  B.C.)  finished  his  Aeneid ;  Tibullus 
(B.  C.  55-B.C.  19)  and  Propertius  (  B.  C.  50-B.  C.  16) 
wrote  their  elegies ;  Ovid  had  begun  his  career  (  B.  C.  43- 
A.  D.  1  7)  and  Livy  (B.  C.  59-A.  D.  1  7)  was  writing  his 
history.  The  custom  of  reciting  compositions  to  an  audience  of 
friends  had  been  introduced  by  Pollio.  Libraries  and  book- 
shops were  established  and  books  were  plentiful  and  fashionable. 
There  were  many  minor  poets  and  historians,  some  good  like 
Gallus  and  Varius,  and  many  bad,  and  satirized  by  the  successful. 
The  discussion  of  philosophy,  and  especially  of  ethical  philoso- 
phy, the  celebration  of  great  men  and  great  deeds,  the  satire  of 
folly,  and  the  praise  of  love  were  the  themes  on  which,  except 
the  last,  Horace  touched. 

In  dramatic  art  alone  there  were  no  great  things  being  done. 
Pompey  had  built  a  permanent  theatre  B.  C.  59  and  the  Greek 
and  old  Roman  tragedies  more  or  less  modernized  were  pre- 
sented. There  was  an  attempt  to  create  a  Roman  drama  and 
Horace  in  his  Ars  Poetica  shows  his  interest  in  the  development 
of  this  form  of  literary  art.  But  the  great  names  of  the  Roman 
stage,  Ennius,  Accius,  Plautus,  and  Terence  were  of  the  past. 
The  comedy  of  Terence  had  degenerated  ;  coarse  farces,  cheap 
vaudeville  shows  became  popular  and  finally  came  mimes  and 
pantomimes  in  which  the  stage  reached  its  lowest  level.  All  these 
were  still  very  popular  in  the  Augustan  period,  and  were  often 
referred  to  by  Horace. 

His  letters  are  mostly  concerned  with  the  philosophy  of  life, 
with  encouragements  to  right  living,  the  praise  of  moderation,  the 
danger  of  wealth,  the  unhappiness  due  to  great  responsibilities.  He 
writes  also  notes  of  invitation,  of  introduction  and  of  friendship. 


PART    OF    A    MOSAIC    PAVEMENT    ON    THE 
SUPPOSED  SITE  OF  HORACES  HOUSE. 

Excavated  and  photographed  for  this  book. 


Introduction  xoii 

He  discusses  literary  subjects,  and  in  his  art  of  poetry  lays  down 
rules  which  have  received  the  approval  of  succeeding  ages.  The 
only  really  humorous  letter  is  his  good-bye  to  his  book. 

Throughout  his  letters  are  many  wise  sayings  and  unimpeach- 
able moralities ;  more  proportionately  than  in  any  of  his 
other  works.  The  compiler  of  the  Emblemata  of  Horace, 
Vaenius,  Antwerp  1612,  drew  a  great  number  of  his  illus- 
trations from  the  Epistles  and  we  have  reproduced  some  of 
these.  As  we  have  stated  in  our  former  book,  they  represent 
Roman  life  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Dutch  craftsmen  of  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  And  they  may  give  the 
impression  that  Horace  was  very  serious  and  rather  preachy  as 
a  letter-writer.  This  is  not  quite  true ;  most  of  the  letters  are 
short  and  none  contain  subtle  problems  or  complicated 
philosophy.  They  do  not  tax  the  mind.  The  modern  reader 
will  probably  say  they  are  very  dull.  Yet  they  are  not ;  though 
perhaps  the  only  convincing  proof  of  this  is  obtained  by  con- 
sulting the  Latin  text. 


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TO  MAECENAS 

THE  FIRST  LETTER  OF  THE  FIRST  BOOK 

This  letter  was  written  to  serve  to  some  extent  as  an 
introduction  to  the  first  book  of  Epistles.  Horace  had  pub- 
lished his  three  books  of  Odes  and  had  apparently  decided 
not  to  do  any  more  work  of  that  kind.  Maecenas,  however, 
urged  him  to  continue,  and  he  now  protests  against  this  plea, 
though  later  he  yielded  and  published  a  fourth  book  of  Odes. 

The  letter  was  written  B.  C.  20,  when  Horace  was  about 
45  years  of  age.  n  In  this  Epistle,"  says  Davidson, '  Horace 
d  scovers  the  same  fine  taste,  as  a  Philosopher,  that  he  does  as 
a  Poet.  Of  all  the  parts  of  Philosophy,  morality  was  his  chief 
Study  because  every  other  part  comparatively  speaking  is  but 
an  idle  speculation  and  fruitless  curiosity.  .  .  The  Poet  con- 
cludes the  letter  with  a  satirical  Reflection  on  the  Stoicks,  to 
which  the  Surprize  gives  a  great  deal  of  Wit  and  Beauty.  In 
short  this  piece  is  full  of  sprightly  and  pathetic  Turns  of  excellent 
Morality." 

Prima  dicte  nvhi,  summa  d'cende  Camena, 
Spectatum  satis  et  donatum  iam  rude  quaeris, 
Maecenas,  iterum  antiquo  me  includere  ludo. 

You  were  the  subject,  Maecenas,  of  my  earliest  songs 

and  you  will  be  the  theme  of  my  latest ;  but  now  you  The  gia(j;a,or 

ask  me,  a  poet  sufficiently  approved  and  holding  the  when  he  retired, 

badge  of  retirement,  again  to  enter  the  old  game.  .    ?  .. 

°  §  °  ....  wooden  toil  as 

My  age  is  not  the  same,  nor  my  inclination.  badge  of  his 

Non  eadem  est  aetas,  non  mens.  1SC  arge" 

Vejanus,  the  Gladiator,  was  allowed  to  fix  his  arms 
on  the  Temple  of  Hercules  and  go  to  his  country 


2  Horace:  Quintus  H  or  alius  Flaccus 

home,  so  that  he  need  not  so  often  beg  the  favor  of  the 
people  from  the  edge  of  the  arena.  A  voice  sounds  in 
my  alert  ears  :  n  Spare  the  old  horse  in  time  lest  he  fail 
at  last  and  they  laugh  at  his  panting  flanks." 

So  now  I  am  laying  aside  poetry  and  such  trifles 
and  am  seeking  and  asking  after  what  is  true  and 
becoming;  and  this  takes   all  my  time.     I  am  storing 

Quid  verum  atque  decens  euro  et  rogo  et  omnia  in 
hoc  sum ; 

up  and  arranging  what  I  may  be  able  to  publish. 
If  you  should  ask  to  what  master  or  what  school  I 
doctrine  was  am  attached ;  I  would  answer  that  I  have  taken  oath 

that  virtue  .  . 

should  be  lNulhus  addictus  jurare  in  verba  magistn, 

to  no  one  and  that  wherever  the  storms  drive  me,  there 
I  take  my  lodging.  Sometimes  I  become  active,  and  am 
immersed   in   the   waves    of    civic   affairs  and   am   a 
A  •  ,•        guardian  and  rigid  follower  of  the  honest  life. 

Anstippus    &  & 

regarded  bodily       Again,  I  slip  back  almost  insensibly  into  the  doctrines 
gratification  of  Qf  /\ristippus,  and  try  to  make  circumstances  suit  me 

the  present  .  .  .  .f 

moment  as  the  rather  than  suit  myselr  to  circumstances. 

highest  pleasure 

and  wisdom.  Et  mihi  res,  non  me  rebus  subjungere  conor. 

As  the  night  seems  long  to  him  whose  mistress  dis- 

This  is  what  appoints  him  ;  as  the  day  seems  long  to  those  who  are 

is  known  as  [ orcecJ  t0  nar{]  tasks ;  as  the   year  passes  slowly  to 

persiflage,  children   under    the    charge   of    nagging   mothers,   so 

to  me  irksomely  and  slowly  the  seasons   flow  which 


lnvidus,  iracundus,  iners,  vinosus,  amator : 
Nemo  adeo  f erus  est,  ut  non  mitescere  possit, 
Si  modo  culturae  patientem  commodet  aurem. 

EP.  I,  I 

Coward,  pickthank,  spitfire,  drunkard,  debauchee, 
Snbmit  to  culture  patiently,  you'll  find 
Her  charms  can  humanize  the  rudest  mind. 

Conington 


The  First  Letter  of  the  First  Book  3 

delay  the  fulfilment  of  my  hope  and  my  resolution; 
to  discover  that  plan  of  life  which,  if  followed,  will 
be  of  advantage  alike  to  the  rich  and  the  poor,  and, 
if  neglected,  will  be  harmful  alike  to  the  young  and 
the  old ! 

Aeque  pauperibus  prodest,  loclupletibus  aeque, 
Aeque  neglectum  pueris  senibusque  nocebit. 

At  present  it  stands  thus ;  that  I  regulate  and  console  Horace  begins 
myself  with  these  general  principles :  to  moralize ; 

J  °  *  l  addressing  now 

Although    you   cannot   be    as    sharp    of    sight   as  the  reader,  not 
Lynceus,  yet  you  will  not  on  that  account  neglect  such  Maecenas. 
eyes   as  you  have  or  fail  to  have  them  cared  for  if 
inflamed. 

Non  possis  oculo  quantum  contendere  Lynceus  :  Lynceus,  one  of 

Non  tamen  idcirco  contemnas  lippus  inungui ;  tne  Argonauts, 

was  famous  for 

And  because  you  despair  of  possessing  the  strength  of  his  keen  vision, 
the  unconquered  Glycon,  you  will  not  be  averse  to 

saving  yours  limbs  from  the  knotty  gout.    There  is  a  GIvcon  was   a 

certain  moderate  degree  of  philosophy  to  which  one  contemporarv 

may  attain,  even  if  one  is  not  permitted  to  go  further,  athlete. 

Est  quadam  prodire  tenus,  si  non  datur  ultra. 

Is  your  breast  inflamed  with  avarice  or  a  wretched 
passion?  There  are  words  and  voices  by  which  you 
can  soften  this  pain  and  relieve  in  great  measure  the 
disease. 

Sunt  verba  et  voces  quibus  hunc  lenire  dolorem 
Possis  et  magnam  morbi  deponere  partem. 


4  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

Are  you  swollen  with  love  of  praise?  There  are 
certain  remedies  of  philosophy  which  will  have  power 
to  restore  you ;  the  wise  book  being  read  three  times 
over  with  good  intent.  One  may  be  jealous,  irritable, 
indolent,  intemperate,  sensual,  yet  he  is  still  not  so 
savage  that  he  cannot  be  tamed  if  he  but  lend  a  patient 
ear  to  culture. 

Invidus,  iracundus,  iners,  vinosus,  amator, 
Nemo  adeo  ferus  est,  ut  non  mitescere  possit, 
Si  modo  culturae  patientem  commodet  aurem. 

The  first  principle  of  goodness  is  to  flee  from  vice, 
and  the  beginning  of  wisdom  is  to  be  free  from  folly. 

Virtus  est  vitium  fugere  et  sapientia  prima 
Stultitia  caruisse. 

See  with  how  much  toil  of  mind  and  body  you  try 
to  avoid  such  things  as  you  think  are  great  evils :  a 
small  income,  or  a  shameful  defeat  at  the  polls.  As  a 
merchant  you  tirelessly  travel  to  the  furthest  Indies, 
flying  over  seas  and  rocks  and  through  fire  to  escape 
poverty ;  and  do  you  not  wish,  then,  to  listen  and  learn, 
and  to  trust  to  a  wiser  man  so  that  you  may  cease  to 
care  for  those  things  which  now  you  foolishly  admire 
and  covet? 

What  village  or  county-fair  athlete  would  disdain  to 
be  crowned  at  the  great  Olympiad,  if  he  had  the  hope, 
the  sweet  assurance,  that  he  would  gain  without  toil 


The  First  Letter  of  the  First  Book  -5 

that  pleasant  palm  of  victory?    Yet  this  victory  over 
your  own  evil  self  the  wise  man  offers  you. 

Silver  is  cheaper  than  gold,  gold  than  virtue.  "  O  Horace  take» 
citizens  ! n  you  cry  ;  "  money  must  be  sought  first ;  after  another  tcxt- 
money,  virtue !  n 

The 
"O  cives,  cives,  quaerenda  pecunia  primum  est ;  philosopher, 

Virtus  post  nummos."  Phocylides. 

taught  that  one 

This  is  the  doctrine  held  from  one  end  of  Janus  to  s  ou  .   rst..get 

*  enough  to  live 

the  other,  and  these  maxims  are  sung  over  and  over  by  Upon,  and  then 

youths  and  old  men,  like  school-boys  with  their  satchels  acciulte  ««*«• 

and  tablets  hung  from  the  left  arm.    Though  you  may 

have  spirit,  character,  eloquence  and  credit,  if  you  lack 

three  or  four  hundred  dollars  of  the  twenty  thousand  Before  a 

which  would   make  you  a  knight,  you  will  have  to  Roman 

plebeian  could 

remain  a  common  man.  be  a  knlght  he 

But  the  boys  sing   at  their  play,   n  Do  right  and  had  to  possess 

you'll  be  King!"     Let  this  rather   be  your. wall  of  4 

brass,  to  feel  no  guilt  within,  no  fault  to  turn  you  pale. 


sesterces. 


.  .  .  Hie  murus  aeneus  esto : 
Nil  conscire  sibi,  nulla  pallescere  culpa. 

Tell  me,  please,  which  is  better :  the  Roscian  Law,  law  ^ 
or  the  Children's  Ditty  which  gives  reward  to  those  first  fourteen 
who   act  well  —  a  ditty  sung   of   old    by   the  brave  towsmthe 

...  theatre  to  the 

Romans,  Curius  and  Camillus  ?  knights.  The 

And  who  now  is  the  better  adviser,  he  who  says:  Senator*  were 

n  Make  your  fortune ;  make  it  honestly  if  you  can,  provided  for  in 

but  if  you  can't,  make  it  anyway ;   so  that  you  can  the  orchestra. 


6  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Fiaccus 

afford   to  have   a    better   seat   at   the  theatre  and   a 

closer  view    of   the    tearful    tragedies    of    Puppius  n; 

or  he  who,  ever  at  your  side,  exhorts  and  trains  you 

to  confront  the  petulance  of  fortune  like   a   free  and 

courageous  man. 

Horace  cannot        ^  now  by  chance  tne  g°°d  people  of  Rome  ask  me 

accept  the  why  I  do  not  enjoy  the  same  sentiments  which  they 

prevalem  view  r^  j^  as  j    en]oy  ^lT  streets  and  public  walks, 

and  why  I  do  not  seek  or  avoid  what  they  love  or 
hate ;  I  answer  as  once  did  the  cautious  fox  to  the 
sick  lion  :  n  Because  the  footprints  alarm  me,  all  lead 
to  you,  none  lead  away !  " 

.   .  .  "Quia  me  vestigia  terrent, 
Omnia  te  adversum  spectantia,  nulla  retrorsum." 

Fortune  hunting       y0u  are  indeed,  citizens,  a  monster  of  many  heads  ; 

much  prevailed  l     n    I    r    11  l  c 

in  Rome,  which  one  or  you  shall  1  follow  and  where  ?  Some 
are  eager  to  get  state  contracts ;  some  pay  their  court 
with  trinkets  and  fruits  to  wealthy  widows,  or  hunt  for 
rich  old  men  to  put  into  their  nets :  many  grow  rich 
by  secret  usury.  Admitting,  indeed,  that  different  people 
resort  of  rich  must  have  different  interests  and  pursuits,  still,  can  these 
Romans.  The  same  pe0ple,  I  ask,  continue  for  an  hour  liking  the  same 

Lucrine  Lake     ,  . 

things  ? 

n  No  region  in  the  world  out-shines  delightful 
Baiae. "  So  speaks  the  Rich  Man,  and  Lake  and  Sea 
feel  at  once  the  zeal  of  the  master  hurrying  to  build  a 
palace  there.  If  now  some  morbid  whim  siezes  him, 
1  Tomorrow,"    he   says,    "  workmen,  you  will   carry 


Baiae  was  a 
favorite  sea-side 


was  near  it. 


The  First  Letter  of  the  First  Book  7 

your  tools  to  Teanum   and   we   will   build   a  house 

there. "     Is  a  man  married  ?    He  says  ;      L»ive  me  a       •  ,     .  , 

J  an  inland  town 

bachelor's  life,  there  is  nothing  like  it."    If  he  is  not,  he  of  Campania 
swears  that  married  people  alone  are  happy.  With  what  »bout  30  m,lrs 
noose  can  I  hold  this  Proteus  thus  ever  changing  his 
shape  ? 

So  much  for  the  rich.  What  about  the  poor  man  ? 
You  smile ;  but  he  is  just  as  bad.  He,  too,  changes 
his  lodgings  and  his  beds,  his  baths  and  his  barbers ; 
in  his  hired  boat  he  is  just  as  sea-sick  as  the  rich  man 
who  sails  in  his  own  yacht. 

.  .  .  conducto  navigio  aeque 
Nauseat  ac  locuples,  quern  ducit  priva  triremis. 

If  I  meet  you  Maecenas  with  my  hair  badly  cut  you 
laugh  ;  and  if  by  chance  I  wear  a  worn-out  shirt  under  criticize» 
my  new  tunic,  or  if  my  toga  hangs  unevenly,  again  you  Horace  if 

•i         r>  1  *l  1  wrong  in  his 

smile,  but  what  attention  do  you  pay  to  me  when  my  drcss.butthink« 
judgment  is  at  war  with  itself,  when  I  dislike  what  I  nothing  of  it  if 

have  been  working  for,  or  seek  again  what  I  have  just  Horace  ls 

i  ii  i  i  r  i  wrong  in  hls 

thrown  away  ;  when  1  am  tossed  to  and  rro  and  am  out  minci. 

of   joint  with  all  the   arrangements  of   life,   and  pull 

down,  build  up,  and  make  square  round  and  round 

square?    In  this  case,   you  think  it  nothing  but  the 

ordinary  madness  of  life ;   you  do  not  laugh  or  think 

I  need  a  physician  or  guardian  assigned  by  a  praetor. 

Although  you  are  the  safeguard  of  my  fortunes,  yet 

you  get  angry  over  trifles  like  an  ill-pared  nail,  with 

the  friend  who  so  admires  and  depends  upon  you  ! 


8  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

To  conclude  :  The  man  of  wisdom  is  only  less  than 

This  is  said  to  Jove   himself ;   he   possesses    riches,    freedom,    honor, 

be  a  joke  at  beauty ;  in  fine,  he  is  a  king  of  kings ;  and  above  all 

the  expense  of    1  L  '1  L  l  i        1 

the  Stoics  1S  a  sane    Pml°S0Pner> — except  when  he  has  a 

cold  in  his  head ! 

Ad  summam,  sapiens  uno  minor  est  Jove,  dives, 
Liber,  honoratus,  pulcher,  rex  denique  regum, 
Praecipue  sanus,  nisi  cum  pituita  molesta  est. 


TO  LOLLIUS  MAXIMUS 

THE  SECOND  LETTER  OF  THE  FIRST  BOOK 


With  Homer's  stories  of  the  Trojan  War  and  of  the 
Wanderings  of  Ulysses  as  texts  Horace  here  talks  of  the  virtue 
of  self-control  and  its  rewards ;  of  the  slight  value  of  worldly 
possessions  compared  with  health  of  mind  and  body,  and  of 
early  training  in  right  conduct. 

Lollius  Maximus,  to  whom  the  letter  is  addressed,  was  a 
young  man  who  had  served  in  the  army  under  Augustus.  When 
this  letter  was  written  he  was  in  Rome  studying  oratory.  He 
wrote  another  epistle  to  him  about  three  years  later,  which 
showed  that  Lollius  was  ambitious  to  enter  political  life  and  live 
among  the  great.  The  date  of  this  letter  is  23  B.  C.  when 
Horace  was  forty-two. 

Trojani  belli  scriptorem,  Maxime  Lolli, 
Dum  tu  declamas  Romae,  Praeneste  relegi. 

While  you  are  studying  and  declaiming  at  Rome,  Praeneste  was 
Dear  Lollius,  I  am  here  at  Praeneste,  reading  once  a  town  ,n 
more  the  stories  of  the  Trojan  War  and  of  the  Wan-  s;xteen  ^^ 
derings  of  Ulysses.     Their    author    shows   us    more  trom  Rome, 
skillfully  and  more  clearly  than  do  those  diffuse  moral- 
ists, Chrysippus  and  Crantor,  what  manner  of  life  is  ,-■ 

J     r  r  Chrysippus  was 

worthy,  what  base,  what  helpful  and  what  harmful,  one  of  the 
Unless  you've  something  else  to  do,  listen  and  I'll  tell  8re*,est  of  ,he 

,       -     1-1  Stoics;  Crantor 

you  why  1  think  so.  a  follower  of 

The  story   of  the  long-continued  conflict  between  PIato' 
Greeks  and  Trojans  on  account  of  the  love  affair  of 
Paris,  tells  of  the  quarrels  of  foolish  kings  and  foolish 
peoples. 


/  0  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

Antenor  of  Troy  urges  that  peace  be  gained  by 
surrendering  Helen,  the  cause  of  the  war.  What  does 
Paris  do  ?  He  foolishly  refuses  peace  on  such  terms 
even  though  it  would  make  his  rule  safe  and  his  life 
happy. 

Nestor  is  eager  to  quiet  the  quarrel  between  Achilles 
and  Agamemnon ;  but  love  in  the  latter  and  anger 
in  both  still  keep  their  enmity  alive.  The  leaders  of 
the  Greeks  give  way  to  their  passions,  their  followers 
pay  the  penalty. 

Quicquid  delirant  reges,  plectunter  Achivi. 

Within  and  without  the  walls  of  Troy,  treachery, 

deceit,  crime,  lust  and  evil  passions  are  loose  among 

men. 

Horace  begins       To  show  us,  next,  what  courage  and  self-control 

his  sermon.  can  J0>  jne  p0ej  sets  before  us  the  story  of  Ulyssses  ; 

and  tells  how  he,  having  subdued  Troy,  visits  many 

cities  and  studies  their  customs ;  and  while  he  strives 

for  a  safe  return  for  himself  and  his  companions,  endures 

calmly  many  hardships  and  remains  undaunted  in  the 

face   of   perils  that  threaten  to  overwhelm  him.   He 

.  .  .  adversis  rerum  immersabilis  undis, 

would  not  yield  to  the  song  of  the  Sirens  ;  he  refused 
the  wine  of  Circe  which  would  have  made  him,  had 
he  drunk  it  as  did  his  foolish  and  greedy  companions, 
the  senseless  slave  in  hideous  form  of  a  harlot  mistress, 
and  compelled  him  to  the  life  of  a  filthy  dog,  or  of  a 
hog  delighting  in  the  mire. 


Et  ni 
Posces  ante  diem  librum  cum  lumine,  si  non 
Intendes  animum  studiis  et  rebus  honestis, 
Invidia  vel  amore  vigil  torquebere. 

EP.  I,  2 

Unless  you  light  your  lamp  ere  dawn  and  read 
Some  whol  so.Tie  book  that  high  reso'.ves  may  breed, 
You'll  find  your  sleep  go  from  you,  and  will  toss 
Upon  your  pillow,  envious,  lovesick,  cross. 

Conington 


The  Second  Letter  of  the  First  Book  1 1 

We  men  today,  we  are  born  only  to  swell  the 
census !   and   live   only  to  consume   what   the   earth 

Nos  numerus  sumus  et  fruges  consumere  nati, 

provides !  We  are  like  the  idle  suitors  of  Penelope ; 
we  are  useless  drones ;  and,  like  the  young  companions 
of  that  luxurious  prince  Alcinous,  we  pamper  our  bodies 
and  boast  that  we  can  sleep  till  mid-day  and  then  call 
on  music  to  help  prolong  our  slumbers ! 

Bandits,  forsooth,  arise  from  sleep  in  the  middle  of 
the  night  that  they  may  cut  the  throats  of  honest  men ; 
and  will  not  you  arouse  yourself  even  to  save  your  own 
life?  Well,  if  you  will  not  live  wisely  while  health 
remains,  be  sure  that  you  will  hasten  to  be  wise  when 
the  dropsy  seizes  you. 

And  what  is  true  of  the  body  is  true  also  of  the 
soul ;  for,  if  you  do  not  wake  early,  and  call  for  a 
light  and  a  book,  and  set  your  mind  to  studious  work 
and  on  wholesome  thoughts,  you  will  toss  sleeplessly, 
tormented  by  evil  ideas  and  passions. 

Tell  me,  why  are  you  so  anxious  to  remove  from 
your  eyes  something  which  may  hurt  them,  yet  are  so 
ready  to  put  off,  year  after  year,  the  mending  of  your 
morals  ? 

Come,  come,  my  friend,  well  begun  is  half  done. 
Dare  to  live  wisely,  begin. 

Dimidium  facti,  qui  coepit,  habet :  sapere  aude ; 
Incipe. 


Horace  points 
the  moral. 


12  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

A  man  who  continually  awaits  that  favorable  day 
when  he  will  begin  to  live  rightly  is  like  the  stupid 
peasant  who  stood  on  the  bank  waiting  till  the  stream 
he  would  cross  had  all  run  by !  And  the  stream  runs 
on  and  on,  and  will  never  cease  to  run. 


Rusticus  expectat  dum  defluat  amnis :  at  llle 
Labitur  et  labetur  in  omne  volubihs  aevum. 


Do  you  say,  Men  are  eager  to  get  money ;  they 
want  a  rich  wife  to  be  the  mother  of  their  children; 
they  are  keen  to  buy  land  and  then  to  turn  its  virgin 
forests  into  cultivated  fields  ?  But  after  all,  enough  is 
enough,  and  he  who  has  enough  is  wise  if  he  does  not 
ask  for  more.  A  house,  a  farm,  and  a  store  of  gold,  these 
never  drove  the  fever  from  their  owner's  aching  body, 
or  took  the  burden  of  care  from  his  mind.  Verily,  the 
man  of  wealth  must  have  good  health  if  he  would  enjoy 
the  fruit  of  all  his  labors. 

If  a  man  is  bound  by  greed  or  harassed  by  fears, 
his  house,  his  home  and  all  his  possessions  will  give  him 
no  more  pleasure  than  paintings  do  the  blind,  warm 
blankets  the  feverish  or  music  the  deaf.  In  an  unclean 
pitcher  sweet  milk  soon  turns  sour. 

Sincerum  est  nisi  vas,  quodcumque  infundis  acescit. 

And  so  I  say,  take  your  pleasures  easily  ;  for  bought 
at  the  cost  of  health  of  mind  or  body  they  are  not 
worth  the  price. 


BAIA,  THE  BAIAE  OF  HORACE'S  DAY. 
From  a  recent  photograph. 
"  Nullus  in  orbis  sinus  Bais  praelucet  amoenis," 
Si  dixit  Dives. 

"  No  bay  in  all  the  world  so  sweet,  so  fair. 
As  may  with  Baiae,"  Dives  cries,  "  compare  !  " 
Martin.  Ep.  1,  2 


The  Second  Letter  of  the  First  Book  13 

The  covetous  man  is  always  lamenting  over  what 
he  lacks.  Then  set  a  limit  to  your  desires.  The  envi- 
ous man  is  forever  sick  at  the  sight  of  others  richer  than 

Semper  avarus  eget :  certum  voto  pete  finem. 

he ;  the  Tyrants  of  Sicily  never  invented  a  worse 
torment  than  envy  provides  for  those  who  indulge  in  it. 
And  as  for  anger,  the  man  who  does  not  control 
it  will  wish  he  had  never  done  the  deed  which  indig- 
nation, wrath,  and  a  thirst  for  vengeance  urged  him  to 
commit.  Anger  is  a  short-lived  madness. 

Ira  furor  brevis  est : 

Govern  your  temper.  It  is  your  master  if  it  is  not 
your  slave.  Hold  it  with  the  bit;  yes,  fasten  it  with 
chains. 

.   .  .  animum  rege ;  qui  nisi  paret, 
Imperat : 

A  trainer  teaches  a  horse,  while  still  a  young  and 
tractable  colt,  to  mind  the  rein  and  turn  as  his  master 
wishes.  The  hunting  dog  begins  his  work  in  the  woods 
from  the  day  when  he  knows  enough  to  bark  at  a 
deer-skin  in  the  courtyard.  And  you,  while  you  are 
young  and  your  heart  still  clean,  learn  the  sayings  of 
the  wise  and  choose  the  best  men  for  your  companions. 

The  jar  long  holds  the  odor  of  the  wine  which 
first  filled  it. 

Quo  semel  est  inbuta  recens,  servabit  odorem 
Testa  diu. 


14  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

I  am  done  with  preaching,  so  farewell.  Remember 
always  that  if  you  lag  behind  in  the  race  of  life,  or 
if,  in  your  zeal,  you  outstrip  all  others,  I  am  not  with 
you.  I  am  for  the  golden  mean,  and  I  do  not  wait  for 
the  slow  or  tread  on  the  heels  of  the  swift. 


Dimidium  facti  qui  coepit  habet :  sapere  aude  ; 
Incipe :  qui  recte  vivendi  prorogat  horam, 
Rusticus  expectat  dum  defluat  amnis  :  at  ille 
Labitur  et  labetur  in  omne  volubihs  aevum. 

EP.  I,  2 

Come  now,  have  courage  to  be  wise:  begin  : 
You're  halfway  over  when  you  once  plunge  in : 
He  who  puts  off  the  time  for  mending,  stands 
A  clodpoll  by  the  stream  with  folded  hands. 
Waiting  till  all  the  water  be  gone  past; 
But  it  runs  on,  and  will,  while  time  shall  last. 

Conington 


TO  JULIUS  FLORUS 

THE  THIRD  LETTER  OF  THE  FIRST  BOOK 


Horace  wrote  this  letter  from  Rome,  B.  C,  20,  when  he 
was  45  years  of  age.  Julius  Florus  was  one  of  the  young 
nobles  whom  Tiberius,  afterward  Emperor,  gathered  about 
him.  Tiberius  was  at  this  time  in  the  East  where  he  had 
been  sent  by  Augustus  to  place  Tigranes  on  the  throne  of 
Armenia.  Florus  traveled  with  him,  as  did  other  young  men, 
among  them  Titius,  and  Celsus  and  Munatius  who  are  referred 
to  in  the  text.  This  letter,  as  Wilkins  says,  gives  us  a  pleasant 
conception  of  the  literary  tastes  of  the  companions  of  Tiberius, 
and  a  charming  picture  of  the  relations  of  Horace  with  the 
younger  aspirants  to  poetic  fame. 

We  know  little  about  Florus  or  his  companions.  He  had 
literary  tastes  and  wrote  some  satires,  but  he  does  not  appear  to 
have  achieved  any  great  success.  His  friend  Titius  was 
apparently  an  ambitious  poet,  who  was  trying  to  adapt  the 
style  of  Pindar  to  Latin  measures.  Celsus  was  a  friend  of  Horace, 
to  whom  he  wrote  a  clever  letter  of  introduction  to  Tiberius. 
Epis.  1 ,  8. 

Munatius  was  the  son  of  a  consul  and  later  a  consul  himself. 
Horace  must  have  had  a  special  intimacy  with  Florus,  for  he 
wrote  a  long  letter  to  him  again  a  few  years  later.   Epis.  11,2. 

Juli  Flore,  quibus  terrarum  militet  oris 
Claudius  Augusti  privignus,  scire  laboro. 

I  am  anxious  to  know,  Florus,  in  what  part  of  the 
world  Tiberius  is  carrying  on  the  war.  Are  you  in 
Thrace,  or  by  the  frozen  Hebrus  or  the  Hellespont,  or 
are  you  already  on  Asia's  fertile  plains  and  hills? 

Tell  me  what  you  are  all  writing.    Who  is  going  to 


16  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

tell  the  great  deeds  of  Augustus?  Who  is  going  to 
spread  the  story  of  his  wars  and  terms  of  peace  to  a 
distant  age? 

And  Titius,  whose  name  will  soon  be  in  everyone's 
mouth,  who  is  not  afraid  to  drink  at  the  Pindaric 
Spring,  scorning  the  common  lakes  and  streams, — 
is  he  well  ?  And  does  he  remember  me  ?  Is  he  busy 

Pindarici  fontis  qui  non  expalluit  haustus, 
Fastidire  lacus  et  rivos  ausus  apertos  ? 

adapting  Pindar's  strain  to  Latin  verses,   and  is  his 

Muse  propitious  ?   Or  does  he  rage  and  swell  in  tragic 

measures  ? 

In  B.  C.  28       And  what  is  my  friend  Celsus  doing  ?  He  has  often 

Augustus  built  Deen  warned,  y0U  know,  to  do  some  work  of  his  own 

a  Temple  to  ,  .  1  •     1  1         /rii        1       •        1        r»    1      • 

Apollo  on  the  and  to  keep  his  hands  oft  the  books  in  the  Palatine 

Palatine  and  Library,  lest  some  day  he  be  found  out,  and,  like  the 

bird   stripped    of   her    borrowed  plumes,   become    a 

portico  with  a  rr  r 

library.    laughing-Stock. 

And  what  are  you  yourself  attempting?  Around 
what  beds  of  thyme  are  you  flitting?  You  have  no 
small  talent,  talent  which  has  been  well  trained  and 

Quae  circumvolitas  agilis  thyma  ?   Non  tibi  parvom 
Ingenium,  non  incultum  est  et  turpiter  hirtum  : 

never  neglected.    Whether  you  apply  it  in  sharp  con- 

The  Cold  tests  at  the  bar,  or  in  making  laws,  or  in  composing  a 

fomentations  of  charming  song,  you  always  carry  off  the  victor's  crown 

ambition  love  °^  ^vv*    "  you  can  f°reg°  tne  c°ld  fomentations  of 
of  money,  etc.  Care,  you  will  surely  reach  the  goal  toward  which 


The  Third  Letter  of  the  First  Book  17 

heavenly  wisdom  leads ;  to  do  this,  indeed,  we  should 

all,  the  small  as  well  as  the  great,  always  strive ; — 

that  is,  if  we  wish  to  be  true  to  our  country  and  well 

satisfied  with  ourselves. 

Quodsi 
Frigida  curarum  fomenta  relinquere  posses, 
Quo  te  caelestis  sapientia  duceret,  ires. 

Tell  me,  also,  whether  you  are  still  at  odds  with 
Munatius.  Alas  !  Hot  blood  and  inexperience  in  affairs 
make  you  impatient  of  restraint !  It  is  unworthy  of  you 
to  break  the  friendly  ties  such  as  once  bound  you 
and  Munatius. 

Nevertheless,  wherever  in  the  world  you  two  may 
be,  a  heifer  pastures  in  my  field,  vowed  to  the  gods 
on  your  return. 

.  .  .  Ubicumque  locorum 
Vivitis,  indigni  fraternum  rumpere  foedus, 
Pascitur  in  vestrum  reditum  votiva  juvenca. 


TO  THE  POET  TIBULLUS 

THE  FOURTH  LETTER  OF  THE  FIRST  BOOK 

Albius  Tibullus  was  a  poet  of  some  distinction,  a  friend  of 
Horace  and  about  ten  years  his  junior.  When  this  letter  was 
written  he  was  a  little  over  30.  Tibullus  wrote  heroic  verse, 
but  devoted  himself  especially  to  the  production  of  elegies 
wherein  he  "  wept  over  tender  loves  ".  He  also  celebrated  in 
song  the  merits  of  Delia  and  later  of  Nemesis,  persons  whom  we 
would  not  now  consider  either  wise  or  good. 

Horace  seems  to  have  been  quite  intimate  with  him.  He 
addressed  an  Ode  to  him,  I,  33,  in  which  he  protests  rather 
facetiously  at  the  serious  way  in  which  the  elegiac  poet  took  his 
love  affairs.  The  opening  and  closing  lines  of  this  Ode  have  been 
translated  thus  by  Martin  : 

Nay,  Albius,  a  truce  to  this  sighing  and  grieving ! 

Is  Glycera  worth  all  this  torture  of  brain  ? 
Why  flatter  her,  lachrymose  elegies  weaving, 

Because  she  is  false  for  a  youthfuller  swain  ? 

Such  caprices  hath  Venus,  who,  rarely  propitious, 
Delights  in  her  fetters  of  iron  to  bind 

Those  pairs  whom  she  sees,  with  a  pleasure  malicious, 
Unmatched  both  in  fortune,  and  figure,  and  mind. 

I  myself,  woo'd  by  one  that  was  truly  a  jewel, 

In  thraldom  was  held,  which  I  cheerfully  bore, 

By   hat  vulgar  thing,  Myrtale,  though  she  was  cruel 
As  waves  that  indent  the  Calabrian  shore. 

Tibullus  was  a  knight  and  the  possessor  of  property  in  the 
country.  For  a  time  he  served  in  the  army  under  Messala,  to 
whose  literary  circle  he  belonged.  It  may  be  gathered  from  his 
verse,  says  Wilkin,  that  he  was  "  a  gentle,  tender,  melancholy 
soul."    He  died  young. 


The  Fourth  Letter  of  the  First  Book  1 9 

There  are  in  this  epistle,  says  Rowlandson,  n  the  nicest  and 

most  delicate  touches  of  Morality,  Praise  and  Raillery." 

This  letter  was  written  between  24  and  20  B.  C. 

Pedum  was  a 

....  l-  l      •     l  small  town  in 

Albi,  nostrorum  sermonum  candide  ludex,  i    , 

^,    .  |  ,.  (  .  r,     ,  -  Latium  near 

Klma  nunc  te  dicam  racere  in  regione  redana  ?  Praeneste 

Tibullus,  fair-minded  critic  of  my  Satires  that  you  are,  n 

J  J  Cassiusor 

tell  me  what  you  are  doing  now  at  your  country  seat  Parma  was  one 
near  Pedum  ?  Are  you  writing  things  which  will  sur- 

I  ii  j  r  /~>        •       -\    /-\  •  •     l  assassinators  of 

pass  the  small  works  or  Cassius  ?  Or  sauntering  quietly  Caesar.  He 

among  your  peaceful  groves,  intent  on  whatever  pleases  wrote  elegies 

j  ■   l  ,  -v     v/  1  and  epigrams  of 

a  wise  and  upright  man.-»    You  were  never  one  who 

r     °  merit. 

lacked  a  soul.   The  gods  have  given  you  beauty,  wealth 

and  the  skill  to  enjoy  it.     What  more  could  a  kind  Dacier  says 

nurse  ask  for  her  dear  child  than  that  he  have  wisdom  ;  that  Tlbul,u» 

that  he  be  able  to  speak  what  he  feels ;  that  a  good  ruineci  himself 

name  and  good  health  be  his,  together  with  a  good  table  by  his  course  of 

di      1        r  •%  life  and  had 

no  lack  or  money  ?  ,      , 

J  _  returned  to  the 

Amid  hopes  and  cares,  amid  fears  and  keen  regrets,  country, 

think  that  each  new  day  which  dawns  will  be  your  tor,uredt,y 
last ;  then  the  hour  for  which  we  do  not  hope  will  come 

as  a  glad  Surprise.  Horace  had 

If  you  want  to  be  amused,  come  and  see  me  now,  been  ill  and 

for  I  am  fat  and  sleek  and  in  fine  condition,  a  very  pig  "n  .er  l  e  care 

J   r  b  of  Antonius 

of  the  herd  of  Epicurus.  Musa,  the 

Emperor's 

Inter  spem  curamque,  timores  inter  et  iras  physician.  He 

Omnem  crede  diem  tibi  diluxisse  supremum  :  is  now 

Grata  superveniet  quae  non  sperabitur  hora.  apparently  well 

Me  pinguem  et  nitidum  bene  curata  cute  vises,  again. 
Cum  ridere  voles,  Epicuri  de  grege  porcum. 


TO  MAECENAS 

THE  SEVENTH  LETTER  OF  THE  FIRST  BOOK 


This  letter  was  written  from  the  Sabine  Farm,  probably  in  the 
month  of  September  and  at  about  the  date  of  most  of  the  other 
epistles.  In  it  Horace  explains  why  he  has  not  for  some  time 
visited  Maecenas  ;  and,  while  conceding  his  obligations,  tactfully 
declares  his  independence.  He  tells  us  about  the  art  of  giving 
graciously  and  illustrates  it  with  the  story  of  the  Calabrian  Host. 
Here  is  also  the  tale  of  the  Lean  Mouse,  and  another  and 
longer  one,  that  of  Philip  the  Auctioneer,  which  is  a  good 
specimen  of  a  Roman  short  story. 

Scaliger  says  that  this  letter  is  "  so  elegant  and  polite  a  per- 
formance that  nothing  seems  wanting  to  its  perfection." 

It  reads  as  if  Horace  were  trying  to  be  a  little  more  amusing 
than  usual. 

Quinque  dies  tibi  pollicitus  me  rure  futurum, 
Sextilem  totum  mendax  desideror. 

I  promised  to  stay  in  the  country  for  five  days  or  so, 
and  here  it  is,  the  end  of  August !  I  have  not  kept  my 
word.  But  if  you  wish  me  to  be  well  and  to  stay  well, 
you  must  treat  me  as  if  I  were  an  invalid,  when  in  fact  I 
only  fear  lest  I  be  one.  Really,  I  dare  not  go  to  Rome 
now,  when  the  first  figs  are  coming,  and  the  heat  is 
keeping  the  undertakers  busy ;  when  anxious  fathers 
and  mothers  are  worrying  over  their  children,  and 
while  the  ceaseless  round  of  social  duties,  and  the  bustle 


The  Seventh  Letter  of  the  First  Book        2 1 

of  the  courts  are  bringing  on  fevers  and  unsealing  walls. 

Dum  pueris  omnis  pater  et  matercula  pallet, 
Officiosaque  sedulitas  et  opella  forensis 
Adducit  febris  et  testamenta  resignat. 

When  the  first  snows  of  winter  cover  the  Alban  Hills, 
I  am  going  down  to  the  sea  shore  and  again  take  good 
care  of  myself, — I  am  going  to  wrap  up  well  and  read 
books ;  after  that,  my  dear  Maecenas,  if  you  permit, 
when  the  spring  breezes  and  first  swallows  come,  your 
poet  will  visit  you  again. 

You  have  made   it  possible  for  me  to  take  this 
leisure,  and  you  have  done  it  in  a  pleasant  way ;  not  The  story  of 
like  the  Calabrian  host  who  offered  pears  to  his  guest :  Host 

n  Eat  heartily,"  says  he. 

1  I  have  had  enough,  thank  you." 

"  Still,  take  as  many  as  you  can." 

1  You  are  very  kind." 

n  If  you  will  take  some  home  they  will  please  the 
children. " 

"  1  am  as  much  obliged  as  if  I  went  away  loaded. " 

"As  you  like!  What  you  do  not  take  will  have  to 
be  eaten  to-day  by  the  hogs  !  " 

The  wasteful    and  foolish  give  away    what  they 

despise  and  dislike,  and  by  their  gifts  simply  make  the 

recipients  ungrateful.  The  good  and  wise  man  is  ready 

to  help  the  deserving ;  and  he  knows  the  difference 

between  merit  and  its  counterfeit. 

Vir  bonus  et  sapiens  dignis  ait  esse  paratus, 
Nee  tamen  ignorat  quid  distent  aera  lupinis. 


22  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

I  shall  always  try  to  make  myself  conform  to  your 
wishes.  But,  if  you  want  me  to  be  always  with  you, 
Maecenas,  you  must  give  me  back  my  strong  constitu- 
tion, and  the  black  hair  which  once  grew  low  on  my 
forehead ;  you  must  make  me  talkative  and  eloquent 
again ;  ready  to  laugh  and  complain  over  our  cups  of 
the  coquetries  of  Cinera,  my  early  sweetheart. 

Once  upon  a  time,  a  hungry  field  mouse  crept 
through  a  narrow  chink  into  a  bin  of  corn  and,  having 
The  story  of  m|ecJ  himself,  tried  in  vain  to  get  out  again.  A  weasel 
Field  Mouse,  looking  on  from  a  distance  said  to  her  :  "  If  you  wish 
to  get  out  of  there,  Mistress  Mouse,  you  must  go  back 
through  that  same  narrow  hole,  as  thin  as  when  you 
came  in. 

.     .     .     "  Si  vis  n  ait  "  effugere  istinc, 
Macra  cavum  repetes  artum,  quem  macra  subisti." 

Now,  if  I  am  to  understand  that  this  story  applies  to 
me,  I  will  give  back  all  that  I  have  received.  I  would 
not  exchange  my  independence  and  quiet  for  all  the 
riches  of  Arabia.  You  have  often  praised  me  because 
I  was  modest  in  my  demands.  In  your  presence  I  have 
often  called  you  father  and  patron,  and  was  no  more 
sparing  of  my  acknowledgments  in  your  absence. 
.,  ,  You  will  remember  the  reply  of  Telemachus,  son 

Maecenas  has  I  Tl  1  A 

offered  Horace  or    the    much-enduring    Ulysses,   when   Agamemnon 
opportunities  of  0ffered  to  make  him  a  present  of  some  fine  horses. 

"  Ithaca  " ,  said  Telemachus,  "  is  not  a  country  fit  for 
horses,  as  it  has  no  rich  pastures  or  fertile  hay-fields ; 


The  Seventh  Letter  of  the  First  Book        23 

so  permit  me  to  decline  your  gift,  as  being  more  suited 

for  your  own  estate." 

Small  things  become  persons  of  small  condition.    It 

is  not  imperial  Rome  which  charms,  but  quiet  Tiber 

and  the  unwarlike  Tarentum. 

Parvum"  parva  decent :  mihi  iam  non  regia  Roma, 
Sed  vacuum  Tibur  placet  aut  inbelle  Tarentum. 

The  story  goes  that  when  that  ornament  of  the  bar, 
the  famous  and  successful  Philip,  was  returning  from  The  sfory  of 

hrt-  i  i  «11  l  1    •    •  Phillip,  the 

is  ottice  at  about  three  o  clock  and  complaining,  on  Auctioneer. 

account  of  his  age,  about  the  long  walk  from  his  home 

to  the  Forum,  he  saw  a  certain  freedman  sitting  alone 

in  a  barber-shop,  composedly  paring  his  nails. 

n  Demetrius  ",  he  says, — Demetrius  is  his  foot-boy 
who  executes  his  commands  with  great  skill, — "  Go 
and  find  out  where  that  person  lives ;  who  he  is ;  what 
is  his  fortune ;  who  was  his  father  and  who  is  his 
patron." 

The  boy  went  and  returned,  saying,  "  His  name  is 
Vultius  Mena.  He  is  a  clerk  with  a  small  income,  but 
of  good  repute.  He  knows  how  to  be  active  or  idle 
as  occasion  demands,  how  to  get  and  how  to  spend. 
He  takes  delight  in  modest  companionship  in  his  home ; 
in  seeing  a  play,  or,  after  business  is  done,  in  taking  a 
walk  on  the  campus." 

Praeconem,  tenui  censu,  sine  crimine,  notum 
Et  properare  loco  et  cessare  et  quaerere  et  uti, 
Gaudentem  parvisque  sodalibus  et  lare  certo 
Et  ludis  et  post  decisa  negotia  campo. 


24  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

"  I  would  like  ",  says  Philip,  "  to  know  these  par- 
ticulars from  himself ;  so  ask  him  to  come  and  dine  with 
me." 

The  boy  returning  again,  said :  "  Mena  is  struck 
with  astonishment  and  does  not  believe  in  your  invita- 
tion. In  fact,  he  simply  says,  I  am  to  thank  you." 

"What ",  says  Philip,  "  does  he  refuse  me?" 

"  He  does,  absolutely,  and  either  disregards  you  or 
is  afraid  of  you." 

The  next  morning  Philip  saw  Mena,  in  his  shirt- 
sleeves, selling  odds  and  ends  to  the  poor  people,  and 
courteously  salutes  him.  Mena  excuses  himself  to  Philip 
for  not  having  accepted  his  invitation  and  says  he  did 
so  because  of  his  work  and  the  exactions  of  his  calling. 

"  Well " ,  says  Philip,  "  I  will  excuse  you  if  you  will 
sup  with  me  this  evening."    Mena  consents  to  this. 

"Then",  says  Philip,  "come  after  four  o'clock; 
meanwhile  go  busy  yourself  with  your  affairs." 

..."  Ergo 
Post  nonam  venies  ;  nunc  i,  rem  strenuus  auge." 

Mena  came  to  supper  and  talked  freely  of  both 
public  and  private  matters,  and  then  was  dismissed  to 
bed. 

When  Philip  observed  that  Mena  had  begun  to 
come  often  to  his  house,  like  fish  to  a  cleverly  baited 
hook,  and  was  a  regular  guest  at  his  table,  he  bids  him 
go  with  him  as  a  companion  to  his  country  seat,  during 


The  Seventh  Letter  of  the  First  Book         25 

the  holidays.  As  they  drive  along  together,  Mena 
never  stops  praising  the  fields  and  the  Sabine  sky. 
Meanwhile  Philip  watches  him  and  smiles.  As  he  likes 
to  amuse  and  divert  himself  in  any  old  way  he  makes 
Mena  a  present  of  $250,  promises  him  $250  more  and 
persuades  him  to  buy  a  farm. 

Not  to  delay  too  long  with  tedious  details :  from  a 
spruce  citizen,  Mena  soon  changes  to  a  rough  farmer, 
and  prattles  of  nothing  but  his  acres  and  vineyards. 
He  raises  his  elms,  is  indefatigable  in  his  labors,  and 
soon  begins  to  look  old  and  bent  in  pursuit  of  gain. 

Ex  nitido  fit  rusticus  atque 
Sulcos  et  vineta  crepat  mera,  praeparat  ulmos, 
Immoritur  studiis  et  amore  senescit  habendi. 

By  and  by  his  sheep  are  stolen,  his  goats  die  of 
disease,  his  crops  disappoint  him  and  his  ox  is  tired 
nearly  to  death  by  ploughing.  Depressed  by  these 
things,  he  gets  up  one  night  at  mid-night,  mounts  his 
horse  and,  worried  and  full  of  wrath,  goes  to  the  house 
of  Philip.  When  Philip  sees  him,  bent,  aged,  rough 
and  slovenly  as  he  was,  he  says : 

n  Vultius,  you  seem  to  slave  too  much,  and  to  be 
over  anxious  and  wretched  over  your  affairs." 

1  Indeed,  my  friend  and  benefactor,  '  wretched  '  is 
the  right  word,  if  you  want  to  name  me  properly ;  I 
beseech  and  conjure  you,  by  your  own  good  angel  and 
by  all  your  household  Gods,  to  restore  me  to  my 
former  condition." 


26  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

So  I  say,  Maecenas,  when  a  man  has  found  out  that 
the  life  he  once  quitted  is  preferable  to  that  which  he 
has  later  chosen,  let  him  return,  and  take  up  that  which 
he  has  left.  It  is  right  that  every  man  should  be 
measured  by  his  own  standard  and  rule. 

Metiri  se  quemque  suo  modulo  ac  pede  verum  est. 


TO  CLAUDIUS  TIBERIUS  NERO, 
INTRODUCING  SEPTIMIUS 

THE  NINTH  LETTER  OF  THE  FIRST  BOOK 


Tiberius  was  the  step-son  of  Augustus  and  succeeded  him  as 
Emperor.  Horace  here  sends  a  letter  to  him  introducing  his 
friend  Septimius. 

In  Ode  II,  6  Horace  sends  to  Septimius  an  invitation  to  his 
country  home.  The  poem  shows  the  intimacy  and  friendship  of 
the  two  men.  Sir  Theodore  Martin  translates  the  last  two 
stanzas  thus : 

There  Jove  accords  a  lengthen'd  spring, 
And  winters  wanting  winter's  sting, 
And  sunny  Aulon's  broad  incline 
Such  mettle  puts  into  the  vine, 
Its  clusters  need  not  envy  those 
Which  fiery  Falernum  grows. 

Thyself  and  me  that  spot  invites, 
Those  pleasant  fields,  those  sunny  heights ; 
And  there,  to  life's  last  moments  true, 
Wilt  thou  with  some  fond  tears  bedew — 
The  last  sad  tribute  love  can  lend — 
The  ashes  of  thy  poet  friend. 

We  know  little  of  Septimius  except  that  he  was  a  man  of 
character  and  position.  The  letter  of  introduction  has  been 
often  quoted  as  a  model  of  tact  and  discreet  yet  genuine 
commendation. 


28  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

The  first  translation  here  given  was  made  by  Sir  Richard 
Steele  and  published  in  the  Spectator.  The  second  translation 
is  by  Elizabeth  Du  B.  Peck,  Ph.  D. 

Septimius,  Claudi,  nimirum  intellegit  unus, 
Quanti  me  facias. 

To  Tiberius  Nero. 
Sir: 

Septimius,  who  waits  upon  you  with  this,  is  very 
well  acquainted  with  the  place  you  are  pleased  to 
allow  me  in  your  friendship.  For  when  he  beseeches 
me  to  recommend  him  to  your  notice,  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  be  received  by  you,  who  are  delicate  in  the  choice 
of  your  friends  and  domestics,  he  knows  our  intimacy, 
and  understands  my  ability  to  serve  him  better  than  I 
do  myself.  I  have  defended  myself  against  his  ambition 
to  be  yours,  as  long  as  I  possibly  could ;  but  fearing 
the  imputation  of  hiding  my  power  in  you  out  of  mean 
and  selfish  considerations,  I  am  at  last  prevailed  upon 
to  give  you  this  trouble.  Thus,  to  avoid  the  appearance 
of  a  greater  fault,  I  have  put  on  this  confidence.  If  you 
can  forgive  this  transgression  of  modesty  in  behalf  of  a 
friend,  receive  this  gentleman  into  your  interests  and 
friendship,  and  take  it  from  me  that  he  is  an  honest 
and  a  brave  man. 


Septimius  is  the  one  man,  Claudius,  who  knows,  or 
thinks  he  does,  how  much  you  make  of  me.  For  when 


The  Ninth  Letter  of  the  First  Book         29 

he  urges  me,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  to  find  an 
opportunity  of  presenting  him  to  you,  as  one  who 
deserves  the  confidence  of  so  wise  and  discriminating 
a  gentleman  as  the  Emperor,  he  rates  my  influence 
with  you  and  my  ability  to  serve  him  as  I  should 
not  venture  to  rate  them  myself. 

I  have  begged  to  be  excused  for  one  reason  and 
another,  but  I  was  afraid,  if  I  persisted  in  refusing,  that 
I  might  seem  insensible  to  your  kindness,  hiding  under 
a  pretended  lack  of  power  a  real  unwillingness  to 
oblige.  Therefore,  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  a 
greater  fault,  I  have  descended  to  the  importunity  of  a 
mere  courtier. 

So,  if  you  will  pardon  my  presumption  on  behalf  of 
a  friend,  allow  me  to  commend  the  bearer  to  you  as 
one  who  is  worthy  in  every  way  of  your  kindness  and 
consideration. 


TO  ARISTIUS   FUSCUS 

THE  TENTH  LETTER  OF  THE  FIRST  BOOK 


Aristius  Fuscus  was  one  of  Horace's  intimate  friends.  He 
addressed  to  him  his  famous  ode  beginning  "  Integer  vitae " ; 
and  Fuscus  is  the  one  who  played  a  little  trick  on  the  poet 
when  he  was  being  interviewed  by  a  bore,  Sat.  I,  9.  Fuscus 
was  a  city  man,  not  averse,  perhaps,  to  the  prevalent  habit  of 
money-making. 

Horace's  reasons  for  preferring  the  country  to  the  town  are, 
says  his  editor,  "  forcible  and  persuasive  and  are  taken  from  the 
Morals  of  Epicurus.  This  Epistle  is  really  beautiful."  Its  mor- 
alities are  certainly  beyond  reproach.  There  is  a  final  touch 
which  is  often  quoted  and  which  alone  gives  the  letter  distinction. 

Urbis  amatorem  Fuscam  salvere  iubemus 
Ruris  amatores, 

We  lovers  of  the  country,  salute  you,  Fuscus,  a  lover 
of  the  town.  Indeed  in  this  alone  we  seem  to  differ; 
in  other  things  we  are  almost  twin  brothers.  What  one 
denies  the  other  denies,  too;  and  we  nod  assent  to 
each  other  like  a  pair  of  ancient  and  well-mated  doves. 

Adnuimus  pariter :  veluti  notique  columbi, 

You  keep  your  nest  in  town,  I  prefer  the  streams,  the 
moss-grown  rocks  and  groves  of  the  alluring  country. 
In  short,  I  live  and  feel  myself  a  king  as  soon  as  I  have 


The  Tenth  Letter  of  the  First  Book         31 

left  those  things  which  you  praise  to  heaven  with  yhe  s|avM  o( 
approving  shouts.  Like  a  fugitive  slave  of  the  priests,  «he  priest»  eat 
tired  of  the  confections  of  the  temple,  I  long  for  plain  °  . 

r  e  r  supplied  for  the 

bread  :  far  better,  to  my  thinking,  than  the  honeyed  temples.  They 

cakes  of  the  altars.  Pew  ,ired  oi 

It  we  are  to  live  agreeably  to  Nature,  and  it,  to  do  8|;p  away  t0  get 

this,  a  plot  of  ground  is  to  be  obtained  upon  which  to  plainer  fare, 
build  a  home,  do  you  know  of  any  better  spot  than  the 
happy    country?     Where    are    the    winters    milder? 

Where  do  the  breezes  soften  more  gratefully  the  heat  The  Do  star 

of  the  Dog  star,  and  the  motions  of  the  Lion,  when  he^  rises  July  20 ; 

rages  at  the  sharp  beams  of  the  Sun?  Where  does  thesunenters 

envious  care  so  rarely  break  one's  sleep  ?  Constellation  of 

-,.,..,  .....  „  Leo,  July  23. 

tst  ubi  divellat  somnos  minus  invidia  cura  ? 

Is  our  foliage  less  fragrant  and  bright  than  the  city's 
Lybian  mosaics  ?  The  water  in  your  streets  that  strains 
to  burst  the  leaden  pipes,  is  it  purer  than  that  which 
tumbles  and  babbles  down  the  sloping  bed  ?  And  see ! 
there  are  trees  planted  among  the  many  colored 
columns  of  your  town,  and  that  house  is  most  admired 
which  overlooks  long  fields !  You  may  drive  out  Nature 
with  a  pitch-fork ;  she  will  nevertheless  return  and 
conquer  you  and  quietly  overthrow  the  mistakes  of 
your  fastidiousness. 

Naturam  expelles  furca,  tamen  usque  recurret 

Et  mala  perrumpet  furtim  fastidia  victrix.  Horace 

abruptly  drops 

The  man  who  is  so  unskillful  that  he  cannot  tell  int0  moralizing. 


32  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

Tyrian  purple  fleeces  dyed  in  Aquitania  from  the  Tyrian  purple  will 

w«i  imitated  by  noj  suff0j-  a  greater  loss  or  one  that  goes  more  closely 

j      mnilr  lo  ms  heart  than  he  who  cannot  distinguish  the  false 

from  cudbear,  from  the  true. 

Aquitania  wai        j_jc  wJiom  favoring  fortune  transports  with  an  excess 

in  Lntmm  and  ...  ,     . 

not  mi  from  of  joy  is  depressed  in  equal  measure  when  reverses 

Rome  it  w«s  come#  Whatever  you  deeply  admire  you  give  up  with 
nSe  birthplace       .  o       1  i.  •  -i  1  i 

,  i        i    reluctance,    oo  shun  extremes.    It  is  possible  under  a 

Ol  Juvenal.  r 

humble  roof  to  pass  a  worthier  life  than  do   Kings  or 

Tlu»  is  the  Friends  of  Kings. 
I  [ones  i  A 

cardinal  .  .  .  Siquid  mirabere,  pones 

principle  :  Nil  Invitus.  Fuge  magna  :  licet  sub  paupere  tecto 

aamlmtt,  Reges  et  regum  vita  praecurrere  amicos. 

A  stag  once  over-matched  a  fighting  horse  in  their 
common  pasture.  Then  the  horse,  worsted  in  the  long 
combat,  implored  man's  assistance,  and  submitted  to  the 
bridle.  But,  though  he  defeated  the  stag,  never  from 
that  hour  was  he  able  to  shake  the  rider  from  his  back, 
or  the  bit  from  his  mouth. 

So  he  who,  fearing  poverty,  gives  up  a  freedom  more 

precious   than  wealth,  has  taken  a  master  whom  he 

must  always  serve,  because  he  never  learned  to  be 

...  content  with  little.  That  kind  of  fortune  which  does  not 
Money  should  .... 

(allow  l.kr  a  suit  a  man  is  like  a  bad  shoe ;  ll  too  large  it  trips  him 

captive  with  a  Up .  jf  j00  gmaU  it  pinches  him.    So  accept  cheerfully 

around  the  vour  ^0*'  Aristius,  and  you  will  live  wisely ;  and  do  not 

neck,  rather  let  me  go   without   reproof   when  I  am   seen  to  be 

than  lead.  ^m>!t)t;ng  too  mucht  anJ  working  without  a  rest.  Money 


w~ 


Sic  qui  pauperiem  vertiui  pobore  tnetalhi 
Liberlatc  caret,  dominum  vcli.  i  improbui  atqui 

Sf-rvici  acicrnum,  (juia  parvo  netciel  uli. 

Ep.  I.  10 

So  he  wlio,  fearing  penury,  lotet  hold 

Of  independence,  heller  hir  than  «old, 

Will  loil,  a  hopelen  drudge,  iill  life  i*  *\><  m. 

Because  he'll   never,  nevei   ]<  .1111  ■  •miI.nI. 

Conlngton 


The  Tenth  Letter  of  the  First  Book         33 

is  either  one's  master  or  one's  slave;  it  should  be  led 

by  you,  not  drag  you  at  its  heels.  the  Goddess  of 

,  -11  •  •  Vacation. 

Imperat  aut  servit  collecta  pecunia  cuique,  -r-, 

—  r  ,.  .         .  it  ' nere  was  a 

1  ortum  digna  sequi  potius  quam  ducere  tunem.  I   t    K 

This    I   wrote   behind   the   crumbling   Temple    of  about  three 

Vacuna :  Happy  in  all  things  except  that  you  were  not  mi  .  rom  '  ,e 

rrJ  °  r  J  confluence  of 

with  me.  the  Digentia 

Haec  tibi  dictabam  post  fanum  putre  Vacunae,  and  An,°  and 

Excepto  quod  non  simul  esses,  certera  laetus.  near       Present 

town  of  Rocca 
Giovane.   it 
was  not  far 
from  Horace's 
home. 


Vacuna  was 


TO   ICCIUS 

THE   TWELFTH   LETTER   OF   THE    FIRST   BOOK 


To  this  same  friend,  Iccius,  about  to  set  out  on  a  military 
expedition  to  Arabia,  Horace  addressed  Ode  twenty-nine  of  the 
first  book.  The  present  letter  was  written  five  years  later,  B.  C. 
20,  when  Iccius  was  in  charge  of  the  estates  of  Agrippa  in 
Sicily.  Horace  represents  him  as  discontented  with  this  position 
because  his  work  kept  him  from  his  philosophical  studies ;  and 
moralizes  to  the  effect  that  one  can  keep  an  interest  in  the 
higher  things,  even  if  he  live  in  the  rush  of  affairs.  The  letter 
tells  us  also  what  were  some  of  the  problems  which  the  philos- 
ophers at  that  time  were  studying.  The  final  and  most  human 
part  of  the  letter  is  the  introduction  of  Pompeius  Grosphus,  a 
rich  Sicilian  knight,  to  Iccius. 

Horace  once  wrote  a  fine  Ode  to  Grosphus,  II,  1  6,  which 
indicates  that  his  friend  was  well-to-do,  but  that  the  conditions 
might  change. 

A  random  hour  may  toss  to  me 
Some  gifts,  my  friend,  refused  to  thee. 

A  hundred  flocks  thy  pastures  roam : 

Large  herds,  deep-uddered,  low  around  thy  home 

At  the  red  close  of  day : 

The  steed  with  joyous  neigh 
Welcomes  thy  footstep :  robes  that  shine 
Twice  dipt  in  Afric  dyes  are  thine. 
To  me  kind  fate  with  bounteous  hand 
Grants  other  boon  ;  a  spot  of  land, 


Pauper  enim  non  est  cui  rerum  suppetit  usus. 
Si  ventri  bene,  si  lateri  est  pedibusque  tuis,  nil 
Divitiae  poterunt  regales  addere  maius. 

Ep.  I,  12 

With  another's  store 
To  use  at  pleasure,  who  shall  call  you  poor  ? 
Sides,  stomach,  feet,  if  these  are  all  in  health, 
What  more  can  man  procure  with  princely  wealth  ? 

Coninglon 


The  Twelfth  Letter  of  the  First  Book         35 

A  faint  flame  of  poetic  fire, 

A  breath  from  the  Aeolian  lyre, 

An  honest  aim,  a  spirit  proud 

That  loves  the  truth,  and  scorns  the  crowd. 


Fructibus  Agrippae  Siculis,  quos  colligis,  Icci, 
Si  recte  fueris,  non  est  ut  copia  maior 
Ab  love  donari  possit  tibi. 

If  you  will  only  use  in  a  proper  way,  Iccius,  the 

revenues  of  Agrippa  which  you  collect  in  Sicily,  Jove 

himself    cannot  make  you  richer.    Stop,    then,   your 

complaints.    He  is  not  poor  who  has  his  hand  upon 

life's  treasure-chest.    When  the  stomach,  the  lungs  and 

the  feet  are  sound,  the  wealth  of  kings  cannot  add 

more. 

Pauper  enim  non  est  cui  rerum  suppetit  usus. 
Si  ventri  bene,  si  lateri  est  pedibusque  tuis,  nil 
Divitiae  poterunt  regales  addere  maius. 

If  while  in  the  midst  of  abundance  you  live  abste-  Re{er  •    to  ^ 
miously  upon  vegetables  and  salads,  you  will  do  the  Pythagorean 
same  later  tho'  a  flowing  River  of  Fortune  gilded  you  doctr'"e  that 

0  l-l  animals  had 

over ;  for  money  does  not  change  a  nature  like  yours  ,ouls  and  to  kill 

—  or  else  you  think  everything  less  important  than  the  them  was 

practice  of  philosophy.  I  do  not  wonder  that  Democ- 

rates,  absorbed  in  philosophy,  allowed  the  cattle  to 

eat  up  his  corn,  when  I  see  you,  in  the  midst  of  men  The  Epicureans 

who  suffer  from  this  contagious  itch  after  Riches,  con-  believed  in 

if         •  i  •    •    i      i  ■  i  i  •  Chance;  the 

ceming  yourself  with  no  trivial  things,  but  devoting  Sloicg  in  a 
yourself  as  usual  to  these  momentous  questions :  What  controlling 
forces  control  the  Sea  ?     What  regulate  the  seasons  ?        y* 


36  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

Do  the  stars  of  themselves  or  by  command  roam  and 
wander  ?  What  obscures  and  what  reveals  the  light  of 
the  moon  ?  For  what  does  this  discordant  harmony  of 
nature  seek  and  plan  ?  And  is  Empedocles  or  the  wit 
of  Stertinius  the  more  foolish  ? 

However,  whether  you  are  living  on  the  fish  you 
murder  or  on  leeks  and  onions  pray  receive  Pompeius 
Grosphus  into  your  friendship,  and  if  he  asks  a  favor 
grant  it  to  him  freely ;  Grosphus  will  ask  nothing  but 
what  is  right  and  just  and  the  price  of  friends  is  low 
when  good  men  are  in  want. 

Vilis  amicorum  est  annona,  bonis  ubi  quid  dest. 
That  you  may  know  the  latest  news  at  Rome,  let 
me  add :  The  Cantabrian  is  defeated  by  the  valor  of 
Agrippa,  Armenia  by  that  of  Claudius  Nero ;  Phraetes 
on  his  knees  has  acknowledged  the  power  and  rule  of 
Caesar.  Golden  Plenty  from  a  full  horn  has  diffused 
rich  harvests  throughout  Italy. 

....  aurea  fruges 
Italiae  pleno  defundit  Copia  cornu. 


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TO  THE  STEWARD  OF  HIS  FARM 

THE  FOURTEENTH  LETTER  OF  THE  FIRST  BOOK 


This  letter  is  addressed  from  Rome  to  the  Steward  of 
Horace's  farm,  who  was  one  of  his  head  slaves.  It  seems 
curiously  apologetic.  It  might  be  inferred  that  even  under  the 
conditions  of  slavery  the  Romans  had  trouble  about  keeping 
servants  in  the  country,  except  during  the  season,  just  as  we  do 
to-day.  The  sentiments  of  the  letter  are  very  modern,  though 
to-day  no  one  argues  so  frankly  with  his  head  butler !  Horace 
wants  to  know  whether  he  or  his  slave  is  doing  his  duty  the 
better ! 

Vilice  silvarum  et  rnihi  me  reddentis  agelli, 
Quern  tu  fastidis  habitatum  quinque  focis  et 
Quinque  bonos  solitum  Variam  dimittere  patres. 

You  are  Steward  of  my  woods  and  of  the  little  farm  Varia  was  the 

.  ,  ,  r      l  t  i  nearest  town; 

that  always  makes  me  reel  as  ir  I  were  my  own  mas-  lt  was  on  (ne 
ter;  but  you  dislike  the  farm,  though  it  supports  five  Aniojust 
families,  and  always  sends  five  householders  to  Varia.  ^.      .  e  nve 

J  Digentia  joins 

Let  us  see  now  which  of  us  can  more  effectively  root  it.  Vicovaro  is 
out  defects,  you,  those  you  find  in  my  soil,  or  I,  those  ,ls  Present 
I  find  in  my  mind,  and  whether  Horace  or  his  farm  is 
the  more  at  fault.  „ 

Horace 

Lamia's  devotion  and  grief  keep  me  here,  while  he  explains  his  stay 
mourns  a  brother  and  indeed  sorrows  inconsolably  over  m  town- and 
his  death.    Yet  my  mind  and  heart  bear  me  hence,  argument, 
and  I  long  to  break  the  barriers  that  oppose  my  way. 

I  call  him  happy  who  lives  in  the  country,  you  call 


38  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

him  happy  who  lives  in  town.  Whenever  the  home  of 
another  pleases  one,  he  dislikes  his  own.  Each  one 
foolishly  lays  the  blame  on  an  innocent  place,  when 
really  the  fault  is  in  the  mind,  which  tries  in  vain  to 
escape  from  itself. 

You,  when  you  were  a  slave  in  town  silently  prayed 
for  the  fields ;  now,  as  Steward,  you  long  for  the  city 
and  its  sports  and  baths.  But,  as  you  know,  I  have 
always  been  consistent,  and  always  left  the  farm  in 
sadness  when  some  hateful  business  took  me  to  Rome. 

We  like  quite  different  things,  hence  this  argument 
between  me  and  you.  What  you  look  upon  as  a  desert, 
as  inhospitable  wilds,  those  who  feel  as  I  do  call 
charming,  and  we  hate  what  you  think  beautiful. 

I  see,  the  brothel  and  the  dirty  inns  stir  up  your 

longing  for  the  city ;  you  think  this  remote  little  corner 

Pepper  and  Qj  m-ne  wjjj  procluce  pepper  and  incense  rather   than 

incense  were  I  ■    l  l 

not  good  farm  good  hay ;  and  you  say  there  is  here  no  near-by  tavern 
products.  t0  furnish  you  with  wine,  nor  any  cheap  flute  girl  to 
the  noise  of  whose  notes  you  can  practice  a  clumsy 
dance ;  besides,  you  have  to  work  incessantly  breaking 
up  the  fields  which  have  not  been  ploughed,  and  look- 
ing after  the  unyoked  oxen  and  filling  them  with 
gathered  leaves.  The  river  also  adds  to  your  labors 
when  you  have  no  other  work,  for  it  has  to  be  taught 
by  many  an  embankment  to  spare  the  sunny  meadow 
when  the  rains  descend. 

Addit  opus  pigro  rivus,  si  decidit  imber, 
Multa  mole  docendus  aprico  parcere  prato. 


ENTRANCE    TO    THE    SABINE    FARM.   AS    IT 
APPEARS  TO-DAY. 

Photographed  for  this  book. 


The  Fourteenth  Letter  of  the  First  Book.      39 

Come,  now,  and   hear  what  breaks  the  harmony 

between  us.    I  who  once  was  dressed  with  fine  togas 

and  shining  hair,  whom  you  know  to  have  pleased 

rapacious  Cinara  without  rich  presents,  who  drank  pure 

Falernian  at  noon  time,  now  am  satisfied  with  a  short 

meal  and  a  nap  on  the  river-bank. 

Quem  tenues  decuere  togae  nitidique  c&pmr-~ 

Quem  scis  inmunem  Cinarae  placuisse  rapaci, 
Quem  bibulum  liquidi  media  de  luce  Falerni : 
Cena  brevis  juvat  et  prope  nvum  somnus  in  herba  : 

I  am  not  ashamed  to  have  played  the  game,  or  now 
to  have  broken  off  from  the  sports.  For  now,  no  one 
with  envious  eye  disparages  my  pleasures,  or  poisons 
them  with  their  dislike  and  envy.  The  villagers  smile 
at  me  working  over  the  turf  and  rocks. 

You  prefer  to  eat  your  daily  allowance  in  the  city 
with  slaves,  and  are  eager  to  be  in  their  company ;  yet 
my  shrewd  body-servant  here  envies  you  the  enjoy- 
ments of  my  woods  and  flocks  and  garden. 

The  ox  would  love  to  wear  the  horse's  trappings ; 

the  lazy  farm  horse  thinks  he'd  like  to  plough;  but  I 

should   say,  whatever    art    any  one    knows    how  to 

practice,  let  him  stick  to  it. 

Optat  ephippia  bos,  piger  optat  arare  caballus : 
Quam  scit  uterque,  libens,  censebo,  exerceat  artem. 


He  describes 
his  (arm. 


TO  QUINCTIUS 

THE  SIXTEENTH  LETTER  OF  THE  FIRST  BOOK 

Quinctius  is  the  man  to  whom  Horace  addresses  Ode  II,  2 ; 
he  obtained  some  success  in  life  and  was  Consul,  B.  C.  9 ;  he 
was  a  younger  man  than  Horace, — and  this  is  all  we  know  of 
him.  Horace  had  had  his  Sabine  farm  about  six  years  and  was 
about  thirty-eight  when  he  wrote  about  it  in  this  letter. 

n  Philosophy  has  here  all  its  persuasive  force  without  any  of 
that  morose  stiffness  which  discourages  many  from  studying  it," 
says  Davidson. 

It  is  a  very  characteristic  epistle,  beginning  with  a  description 
of  his  farm  and  then  dropping  into  complicated  ethical  and 
economic  themes. 

Ne  perconteris,  fundus  meus,  optime  Quincti, 
Arvo  pascat  erum  an  bacis  opulentet  olivae, 
Pomisne  et  pratis  an  amicta  vitibus  ulmo  : 
Scribetur  tibi  forma  loquaciter  et  situs  agri. 

To  save  you  from  asking,  my  dear  Quinctius, 
whether  my  farm  supports  its  owner  and  is  making  him 
rich  with  its  olives,  fruits  and  hay,  and  with  its  vines 
bound  to  the  elms,  let  me  tell  you  casually  something 
of  its  shape  and  situation. 

It  lies  on  a  range  of  hills,  broken  by  a  shady  valley 
which  is  so  placed  that  the  sun  when  rising  strikes  the 
right  side,  and  when  descending  in  his  flying  chariot, 
warms  the  left.  You  would  like  the  climate  ;  and  if  you 


Oderunt  peccare  boni  virtutis  amore ; 
Tu  nihil  admittes  in  te  formidine  poenae : 
Sit  spes  fallendi,  miscebis  sacra  proranis. 

Ep.  I,    16 

Tis  love  of  right  that  keeps  the  good  from  wrong  ; 
You  do  no  harm  because  you  fear  the  thong  ; 
Could  you  be  sure  that  no  one  would  detect. 
E'en  sacrilege  might  tempt  you,  I  suspect. 

Conington 


The  Sixteenth  Letter  of  the  First  Book       41 

were  to  see  my  fruit  trees,  bearing  ruddy  cornils  and 
plums,  my  oaks  and  ilex  supplying  food  to  my  herds, 
and  abundant  shade  to  the  master,  you  would  say, 
n  Tarentum  in  its  beauty  has  been  brought  near  to 
Rome!" 

There  is  a  fountain  too,  large  enough  to  give  a  name 
to  the  river  which  it  feeds ; 

Fons  etiam  rivo  dare  nomen  idoneus, 

and  Hebrus  itself  does  not  flow  through  Thrace  with 
cooler  or  purer  stream.  Its  waters  also  are  good  for 
the  head  and  useful  for  digestion.  This  sweet,  and,  if 
you  will  believe  me,  charming  retreat  keeps  me  in  good 
health  during  the  autumnal  days. 

Hae  latebrae  dulces,  etiam,  si  credis,  amoenae, 
Incolumem  tibi  me  praestant  Septembribus  horis. 

You  are  doing  well,  my  friend,  if  you  are  at  pains 
to  be  what  is  reported  of  you ;  for  all  Rome  has  long  He  begins  to 

I  || .  (  r>        I  f      •  1  moralize:  Do 

been  calling  you  fortunate,    but  1  am  arraid  you  may  not  ^e  sure  you 
be  trusting  to  the  judgment  of  those  who  are  saying  are  *°und 
these  things  rather  than  to  your  own  opinion,  and  are    ecause  peope 
beginning  to  think  that  persons  may  be  happy  though 
they  are  not  either  good  or  wise.    Or  perhaps,  though 
people  say  you  are  in  good  health,  you  are  like  one 
who  conceals  a  hidden  fever  which  breaks  out  at  the 
time  of  eating,  when  a  trembling  seizes  the  hands  and 
discloses  the  affliction.  Now  it  is  only  false  and  foolish 
shame  which  makes  one  hide  his  uncured  sores. 


42  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

If  any  one  should  begin  to  tell  of  the  battles  you  had 
Beware  of  fought  by  sea  and  land,  and  then  should  go  on  to  please 
flattery  and  y0ur  ears  wjtn  wor<js  like  these  :  "  Jupiter,  who  takes 
care  of  you  and  the  City,  leaves  us  in  doubt  whether 
the  people  care  more  for  you  or  you  for  the  people  " , 
you  could  perhaps  recognize  that  as  praise  due,  not  to 
you,  but  only  to  Augustus  Caesar ! 

A  dialogue  Horace :   n  When  you  suffer  yourself  to  be  called  wise 
begins  on  real  and  accomplished,  do  you  accept  the  compliment,  tell 

righteousness.  -    j    >\  n 

me,  comrade  ? 

Quinctius :   "  Yes,  truly,  I  like  to  be  called  a  good  and 
prudent  man,  just  as  you  do  yourself. n 

Horace  Horace :   "  But  the  people  who  give  you  this  applause 

continues,  to-day,  tomorrow  they  will  refuse  it,  just  as  the  same 

voters  who  elect  to  office  an  unworthy  man  may  soon 

remove  him  from  it.    Resign,  they  say,  the  honor  is 

another's.    I  resign,  and  retire  sadly. 

"  However,  if  these  same  people  acclaim  me  a  thief, 
lost  to  sense  of  shame,  and  assert  that  I  have  strangled 
my  father,  I  shall  not,  under  such  false  calumnies,  be 
bitter  or  change  color.  For  undeserved  honors  please, 
while  false  reports  alarm  only  him  who  is  untrustworthy 
and  in  need  of  betterment." 

If  one  asks :    "  Who  then  is  a  good  man  ?  "    The 

The  . 

conventional  usual  answer  is :    "  He  who  keeps  the  decrees  of  the 

good  man.  Senate  and  the  statutes  and  laws  of  the  State ;  before 

whom  as  judge  many  grave  suits  are  justly  decided ; 


Perdidit  arma,  locum  virtutis  deseruit,  qui 
Semper  in  augenda  festinat  et  obruitur  re. 

Ep.  I.   16 

The  wretch  whose  thoughts  by  gain  are  all  engrossed 
Has  flung  away  his  sword,  betrayed  his  post. 
Conington 


The  Sixteenth  Letter  of  the  First  Book       43 

who  is  able  to  go  on  a  bond ;  and  upon  whose  testimony 
causes  are  settled." 

.  .  .  "  Vir  bonus  est  quis  ? 
Qui  consulta  patrum,  qui  leges  iuraque  servat, 
Quo  multae  magnaeque  secantur  iudice  lites, 
Quo  res  sponsore  et  quo  causae  teste  tenentur." 

Yet  perhaps  his  family  and  all  his  neighbors  know 
this  man  to  be  in  reality  base,  though  shining  speciously 
in  a  decorous  skin. 

If  my  slave  says  to  me,  n  I  have  never  been  a  thief, 
or  tried  to  run  away." 

1  You  have  your  reward, "  I  say,  "  you  are  not 
smarting  from  the  lash !  " 

If  he  says,  n  I  have  never  killed  any  one." 

"Very  well ",  I  answer,  "  you  are  not  feeding  the 
crows  on  a  cross ! " 

If  he  says,  "  I  am  a  good  and  honest  servant." 
Well,  then  my  Sabine  steward,  who  knows  him,  shakes 
his  head,  and  doubts  it !    And  I  say  to  him, 

"  The  wolf  prowls  about  very  cautiously  because  it 
suspects  pitfalls;  the  hawk  is  wary,  for  it  dreads  the 
unseen  snare ;  and  the  pike  fears  the  hidden  hook.  The 
good  dislike  to  sin,  because  they  love  virtue  ;  while  you 
keep  clear  of  crime,  because  of  punishment.  If  there  is 
any  hope  of  covering  your  tracks,  you  will  mix  up 
sacred  things  with  profane. 

Oderunt  peccare  boni  virtutis  amore  ; 
Tu  nihil  admittes  in  te  formidine  poenae : 


The  motives  of 
right  conduct. 


44  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

When  you  steal  but  one  bushel  of  beans  out  of  a 
thousand,  the  danger  of  discovery  is  slight,  I  admit,  but 
the  crime  I  think  is  the  same  as  if  you  stole  a  hundred. n 
This  good  man  at  whom  all  the  forum  stares  and 
The  good  man.  who  is  admired  at  every  tribunal — whenever  he  offers 
the  gods  a  sacrifice  of  a  hog  or  cow,  cries  out  very,  very 
loudly,  "  Father  Janus",  and  again,  "  Father  Apollo." 
Then  softly,  fearing  to  be  heard,  he  mutters,  "  Beautiful 
Laverna  ",  goddess  of  the  robbers,  "  grant  that  I  may 
seem  just  and  holy ;  throw  night  over  my  sins  and  a 
cloud  over  my  deceits. " 

..."  Pulchra  Laverna, 
Da  mihi  fallere,  da  msto  sanctoque  videri, 
Noctem  peccatis,  et  fraudibus  obice  nubem." 

I  do  not  see  how  much  better  or  less  free  than  a 
slave  is  the  man  of  avarice,  who  stops  to  pick  up  a 
counterfeit  penny  stuck  in  mud.  For  he  who  desires  has 
fears,  and  he  who  fears  will  never  in  my  opinion  be 
free. 

He  who  is  always  in  haste  or  a  mad  rush  to  increase 
his  fortune,  has  dropped  his  aim  and  deserted  the  post 
of  honor.  Yet  I  would  not  kill  such  a  man ;  he  has  his 
uses.  Let  him  be  a  captive  and  work  to  some  purpose, 
pasture  the  cattle,  plough  the  land,  go  to  sea  and  pass 
the  winter  on  the  water  and  bring  corn  and  provisions 
to  market. 

The  real  man  of  sense  and  honor  will  dare  to 


\ 


The  Sixteenth  Letter  of  the  First  Book     45 

answer  as  Bacchus  did :  n  Pentheus,  King  of  Thebes, 
what  indignity  will  you  compel  me  to  endure  ?  " 

n  I  will  take  away  your  goods." 

"Very  well,  my  herds  and  money  and  beds  and 
silver,  you  can  take  them  ! " 

n  I  will  put  you  in  shackles  and  fetters  under  a  cruel 
jailor." 

"  God  himself  will  release  me  whenever  I  wish." 

He  means,  I  think,  "  I  will  die."    For  death  is  the 

ultimate  boundary  of  our  affairs. 

.  .  .  Opinor, 
Hoc  sentit  n  Moriar."  Mors  ultima  linea  rerum  est. 


TO  LOLLIUS  MAXIMUS 

THE  EIGHTEENTH  LETTER  OF  THE  FIRST  BOOK 


Lollius  was  probably  the  son  of  the  Lollius  to  whom  Horace 
addressed  an  Ode,  IV,  9  ;  he  was  Consul,  B.  C.  2  I .  This 
fixes  the  son  as  a  man  of  family.  He  had  a  country  house  and 
considerable  possessions,  but  was  probably  ambitious  socially 
and  politically.  Horace  addresses  another  Epistle  to  him,  Ep. 
I,  2,  written  about  three  years  earlier  (  B.  C.  23  ). 

Davidson  says,  "This  beautiful  letter  was  written  to  fortify 
Lollius  against  the  principal  vices  to  whose  attacks  he  was  most 
exposed." 

To  us  to-day  the  first  portion  of  the  letter  seems  most  remote 
in  its  sentiments  and  ethics.  This,  however,  furnishes  it  with  a 
special  interest,  for  it  gives  us  a  lost  point  of  view.  The  latter 
part  of  the  poem  has  as  great  value  to-day  as  it  had  in  the  time  of 
Augustus. 

Si  bene  te  novi,  metues,  liberrime  Lolli, 
Scurrantis  speciem  praebere,  professus  amicum. 

If  I  have  come  to  know  you  well,  my  Lollius,  you  will 
scorn  to  play  the  part  of  a  parasite,  when  you  profess 
yourself  a  friend.  As  a  matron  is  unlike  the  courtesan 
and  of  different  dress,  so  a  friend  is  far  removed  from  a 


Obsequiousness    CQUrt  jester 

and  courtesy. 


There  is  a  vice  different  from  and  perhaps  greater 
than  obsequiousness.  It  is  a  clownish,  impolite  and 
gross  asperity,  which  prides  itself  on  a  badly  shaven 


The  Eighteenth  Letter  of  the  First  Book      47 

skin  and  unclean  teeth ;  things  it  wishes  to  be  consid- 
ered as  signs  of  independence  and  merit.  But  courtesy 
is  a  mean  between  these  faults  and  equally  remote 
from  each  extreme. 

Virtus  est  medium  vitiorum  et  utrimque  reductum. 

One  man  is  too  prone  to  servility,  a  jester  at  the 
lowest  table,  who  watches  the  nod  of  the  host,  repeats 
his  jokes  and  catches  at  each  word  he  utters  so  that 
you  would  think  him  a  pupil  noting  the  speech  of  an 
exacting  master,  or  an  actor  playing  some  second-rate 
part.  Another  will  "  quarrel  about  the  wool  of  a  goat."   a  proverbial 

expression :  to 

Alter  rixatur  de  Iana  saepe  caprina,  quarrel  about 

Propugnat  nugis  armatus:  wnat  does  not 

n  The  idea",  he  says,  ■  that  I  should  not  be  believed  exlst' 

before  every  one  else  !  As  if,  indeed,  I  should  not  say 

what  I  please   and   speak  with  perfect   freedom!    I 

would  not  care  to  live  my  life  twice  over  at  the  price 

you  ask, — my  independence ! n 

And  after  all,  what  is  being  debated?  Whether 
Castor  or  Docilis  has  the  greater  skill  ?  or  which  is  the 
better  road  to  Brundusium,  by  the  Appian  or  by  the 
Minucian  road  ?  Mere  trifles ! 

A  man  whom  the  damnosa  Venus  or  the  fatal  dice 
is  ruining,  who  in  his  vanity  clothes  and  perfumes 
himself   beyond   his  means,  who   is  governed  by  an 

Quern  damnosa  Venus,  quern  praeceps  alea  nudat, 
Gloria  quern  supra  vires  et  vestit  et  unguit, 


48  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

insatiate  thirst  for  money  and  fame,  such  a  person 
your  wealthy  friend  loathes  and  despises,  even 
though  he  is  a  much  worse  man  himself.  Or,  if  he 
does  not  despise  him,  he  nags  him  and,  like  an  anxious 
mother,  wishes  his  dependent  to  be  more  prudent  and 
moral  than  himself.  He  tells  him,  what  is  pretty 
nearly  true :  "  My  wealth  can  stand  some  follies  ;  do 
not  try  to  vie  with  me ;  your  income  is  too  small ;  a 
scanty  toga  becomes  a  prudent  dependent ;  so  cease  to 
enter  the  lists  with  the  rich." 

Arta  decet  sanum  comitem  toga  : 
Eutrapelus,  When  Eutrapelus  wished  to  do  mischief  to  anyone 
eutrapelia,  ■  a  ne  sent  mm  expensive  clothes  ;  for  then,  his  victim,  de- 
refined  lighted  with  his  beautiful  garments,  conceives  new  plans 
impe  mence  ,  an j  n0pes .  jjes  m  DecJ  UU  day-light,  neglects  his  proper 
given  to  business  for  the  harlot,  and  lives  on  the  money  he 
Volumnius,  t>orrows.     At  last  he  has  to  turn  gladiator  or  drive  a 

a  knight  to  .  ,  , 

whom  Cicero  gardener  s  cart  to  market. 

wrote  certain       You  should  not  pry  into  your  friend's  secrets  or 

reveal  what  is  told  you  even  if  you  are  drunk  or  he  has 

made  you  angry. 

Arcanum  neque  tu  scrutaberis  illius  umquam, 
Commissumque  teges  et  vino  tortus  et  ira. 

Amphion  and       Do  not  commend  your  own  amusements  or  find 
e  us  were  r.^^  Wl^  tnose  0f  0tners.  When  your  patron  wishes 

twin  brothers,  J  _  l 

sons  of  Antiope  to  hunt,  do  not  stay  at  home  and  write  poetry.    By 
and  Jupiter.  sucn    concjuct    the    affection    of    the    twin    brothers 


The  Eighteenth  Letter  of  the  First  Book      49 

Amphion  and  Zethus  was  destroyed,  until  the  lyre,  AmPhlon 
which  had  annoyed  the  austere  brother,  grew  silent;  musicilinf 
for  Amphion,  we  are  told,  yielded  in  the  end  to  his  Zethus  a 

•         I       ,  herdsman  and 

brother  s  tastes.  .    ,  ,   7  ,. 

«•»w  w~  hunter.   Zethus 

So  do  you  yield  to  the  kindly  commands  of  your  could  not  bear 

powerful  friend ;  and  as  often  as  he  leads  out  to  the  J*  "Tj.01 

fields  his  dogs  and  his  horses  loaded  with  Aetolian  iyre  anj  they 

nets,  get  up,  lay  aside  the  moroseness  of  your  unsocial  quarreled  over 

muse  so  that  you  may  dine  like   your  patron  upon  Am  hJon 

savory  fare  purchased  by  your  own  labor.    Exercise  finally  gave  it 

like  this  is  a  good  old  Roman  fashion.    It  will  put  «p-  Euripides 

.  ||  i  in  his  Antiope 

blood  into  your  veins  and  make  you  a  better  man,  ancj  pacuv;us 

in  his  Antiopa 
Romanis  sollemne  viris  opus,  utile  famae  introduce  these 

Vitaeque  et  membris,  characters,  and 

they  argue  over 

especially  if  you  are  in  condition  and  can  outrun  the  ^  relative 
dogs  and  surpass  the  boar  in  strength.    Besides,  there  and 
is  no  one  who  handles  his  weapons  more  skillfully  than  philosophy. 
you.    You  know  how  the  Grand  Stand  applauds  when  Aetolia  was  a 
you  take  part  in  the  contests  in  the  Campus  Martius.  qJ"™"*  ' 
Indeed,  even  as  a  boy  you  served  in  a  hard  campaign,  abounding  in 
and  in  the  Cantabrian  Wars,  under  the  leader  who  is  boar. ;  its  King. 

I  •         1  1  lit  L  1  f    L       Meleager,  here 

now  taking  down  the  standards  from  the  temples  or  the  yjjgj  the 

Parthians  and  is  bringing  to  Roman  arms  whatever  Caledonian 

was  lacking  to  complete  their  glory.    And  further,  that  ^!1      ,, 

you  may  not  be  a  spoil-sport,  you  know  you  sometimes  in  a  picture 

go  to  your  place  in  the  country  and  amuse  yourself  found  ■  a 

with  the  game.  Pompeii. 


former  athletic 
habits. 


50  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

He  reminds       You  arrange  your  army  in  two  divisions ;  the  battle 

Lolliusofhis  of  Actium  is  represented  in  vigorous  action  by  slaves 

under  your  command,  and  by  your  brother  who  leads 

the  enemy ;  your  pond  is  the  Adriatic,  and  there  you 

Augustus  fight  till  swift  Victory  crowns  one  or  the  other  with 
fought  the  laurel. 

Cantabrians,  a  ■»  »  f  *        1        1        r      1       1  ■   1  1"  I  • 

tribe  of        *  our  inenc*  wno  hnc*s  tnat  y°u  are  yielding  to  his 
northern  Spain,  tastes  would  applaud  such  sport  with  both  thumbs. 
'    ',    '     '        Further  let  me  advise  you,  if  you  need  advice,  to  be 

Zo.  In  b.  C  ■*  ' 

20  Phraates  careful  what  you  say  about  anybody  and  to  whom  you 

or  Prahates,  sav  fa  Avoid  a  gossip.  He  is  always  a  tattler;  his  wide- 
King  of  the  llll  -li 

Parthians    sPreaci  ears  do  not  keep  the  secrets  committed  to  them, 
concluded  a  and  a  word  once  spoken  never  returns. 

treaty  with  _    .  .  . 

Augustus  Quid  de  quoque  viro  et  cui  dicas,  saepe  videto. 

agreeing  to  Percontatorem  fugito ;  nam  gurrulus  idem  est, 

send  back  the  ^ec  retinent  patulae  commissa  fideliter  aures, 

prisoners  and  ^.t  semel  emissum  volat  inrevocabile  verbum. 

standards  taken  w/l  "1  1        I  f  1  1    f  •        1 

from  Qassus  ™  ni*e  you  are  m  tne  nouse  °»  an  honored  inend 
never  cast  your  eyes  upon  any  of  his  slaves  lest  the 
master  of  some  beautiful  boy  or  winsome  girl  grant  you 
a  thing  which  is  of  no  importance — and  hold  it  against 
you  afterward — or  distress  you  by  a  refusal ! 

Consider  again  and  again  what  sort  of  a  man  you 
present  to  your  fnend,  lest  by  and  by  the  faults  of 
others  put  you  to  the  blush.  We  are  all  fallible,  and 
sometimes  we  introduce  the  unworthy.  If  you  see  that 
you  have  been  deceived  in  one  whom  you  have  intro- 
duced, do  not  try  to  defend  him.    You  should  protect 


GCO 
II 


LICENZA,  AS  IT  APPEARS  TO-DAY. 

From  a  photograph  taken  for  this  book. 


The  Eighteenth  Letter  of  the  First  Book      51 

the  man  whom  you  know  well,  and  who  trusts  you, 
from   false  accusations.    When  a  friend  of   yours  is 
gnawed  by  the  tooth  of  Theon,  do  you  not  feel  that  the  Theon  was  a 
danger  is  coming  pretty  near  home?    For  your  own  v.ery  Wltty  and 

i       •  /r  11  •  ii       •  ii  •  r         abusive 

business  is  affected  when  your  neighbor  s  wall  is  on  fire,  freedman  and 
and  flames  neglected  gather  strength.  slands  here  ioT 

•  •  -i  Slander. 

Nam  tua  res  agitur,  panes  cum  proximus  ardet, 

Et  neclecta  solent  incendia  sumere  vires. 

Sweet  to   the   inexperienced  is  the   cultivation  of 

important  persons.  The  experienced  dread  it. 

Dulcis  inexpertis  cultura  potentis  amici ; 
Expertus  metuet. 

But  while  your  ship  is  on  the  deep,  drive  it  along,  lest 
a  changed  breeze  bring  it  back. 

The  gloomy  hate  the  merry  and  the  cheerful  hate 
the  sad,  the  sprightly  the  sedate,  and  the  indolent  the 
stirring  and  active.  The  midnight  drinkers  of  Faler- 
nian  wine  dislike  one  who  passes  his  turn,  even  if  he 
swears  he  is  afraid  of  the  fumes  of  wine  at  night. 
Potores  bibuli  media  de  nocte  Falerni 
Oderunt  porrecta  negantem  pocula, 

Lay  aside  the  cloud  from  your  brow;  the  modest 
man  often  passes  for  a  mysterious  one  and  the  silent 
man  for  a  morose. 

Meanwhile  read  and  consult  the  philosophers.  Learn 
from  them  how  you  may  pass  life  agreeably;  that 
fruitless  desires  and  fear  or  hope  of  things  that  profit 


52  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

Digentia, a  ^e  should  never  worry  you;  whether  study   brings 

river  flowing  Inter  cuncta  leges  et  percontabere  doctos, 

near  Horace's        .     .  ,  •  1  •     •       1         1 

farm  and  wisdom  or  nature   bestows  it ;  what  it  is  that  lessens 

emptying  into  cares ;  what  makes  you  content  with  yourself ;  what 

t  is     -es  yOU  untroubled  calm,  honors,  or  sweet  lucre,  or  a 

now  called  . 

Licenza.  quiet  road  and  the  path  of  an  unmolested  life. 
Mandela  was  a       por  me>  as  0ften  as  \  am  refreshed  by  the  cool 

village  situated  <■     r-^.  •  ,  l  •    I        1  •    ] 

on  a  lofty  waters   P»    Uigentia,   the   stream   rrom   which   dnnks 

eminence,  near  Mandela,  a  village  grown  wrinkled  with  the  cold,  of 

t  e    .genua,  wnat  j0  yOU  SUpp0se  \  think,  and  for  what,  my  friend, 

the  north,  it  is  my  prayer  ?    That  I  may  retain  what  I  now  possess, 

thus  came  to  or  eVen  less ;  that  I  may  live  quietly  by  myself  what 

"mgosus  remams  °f  We»  if  the  Gods  wish  any  to  remain;  that 

frigorepagm."  I  may  have  a  good  supply  of  books  and  provisions 

Its  name  today    fa  ft  f  .  tnat  J  m        RQ^  han      m  SUSpense  over  eacn 

is  Contalupa 

Bandello.  precarious  hour. 

But  of  Jove  I  ask  only  those  things  which  he  can 

give  and  can  take  away.  Let  him  give  me  only  life  and 

riches ;  I  will  make  for  myself  a  contented  mind. 

Sed  satis  est  orare  Iovem,  quae  donat  et  aufert : 

Del  vitam,  det  opes;  aequum  mi  animum  ipse  parabo. 


TO  HIS  BOOK 

THE  TWENTIETH  LETTER  OF  THE  FIRST  BOOK 


This  letter  was  written  as  an  epilogue  to  the  Epistles  forming 
the  first  Book,  and  Horace  here  addresses  this  book  as  if  it  were 
a  slave  anxious  to  be  free.  It  was  the  custom,  after  a  book 
(  volumen  )  was  finished  to  roll  it  up  and  polish  the  ends  with 
pumice.  If  not  for  sale  it  was  then  put  in  a  case  and  sealed  or 
locked. 

This  letter  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  author's  humor.  Horace 
here  takes  occasion  also  to  speak  a  kind  word  of  himself. 

Vertumnum  Ianumque,  liber,  spectare  videris, 
Scilicet  ut  prostes  Sosiorum  pumice  mundus. 

You,  my  book,  seem  to  be  staring  at  Vertumnus  and 
Janus,  in  the  hope  of  course  that  you  may  be  polished 
up  and  put  on  sale  by  the  firm  of  the  Sosii.  You  hate  brother»  were 
the  restraints  which  please  the  modest ;  you  are  in  tor-  well  known 

booksellers  and 
their  shop  was 


ment  at  being  seen  by  few ;  you  love  the  public  eye 

though  not  so  brought  up.  Fly  then  to  where  you  long  presumably 

to  be.    But  remember,  once  sent  out  you  can  never  near  the  statues 

of  Vertumnus 
return-  and  of  Janus. 

"What,  wretched  book  that  I  am,  what  have  I 
done?"  you  will  say  when  some  one  tears  you  up;  or 
you  find  yourself  folded  tight  and  thrown  aside,  by  a 
reader  who  is  tired  of  you.  But  if  I,  a  prophet,  am 
not,  in  my  resentment  over  your  departure,  mistaken 
about  your  fate,  you  will  be  liked  in  Rome  only  till 


54  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

your  youth  departs.  When,  thumbed  by  the  hands  of 
the  vulgar,  you  begin  to  get  soiled,  you  will  soon 
become  the  food  of  moths,  or  will  be  banished  to 
Utica,  or  sent  in  a  bundle  to  Spain.  I,  your  disregarded 
a.'  monitor,  will  then  laugh;  like  the  angry  peasant  who 


means  in 


general,  Africa,  pushed  his  refractory  ass  over  the  precipice.  For  who 

and n  to  Ilerda",    ^[es  to  saye  a  f0QJ  agamst  ms  w{\\ } 
Spain. 

.  .  .  quis  enim  invitum  servare  laboret  ? 

This  also  is  in  store  for  you:  some  snuffling  old 
pedant  in  the  city  suburbs  will  use  you  to  teach  boys 
the  elements  of  language  ! 

When  some  temperate  evening  gathers  more  hearers 
about  you,  you  may  tell  them  that  I,  born  of  a  freed- 
man  and  of  low  fortune,  have  soared  beyond  my  nest ; 
that  what  they  take  from  me  on  account  of  birth  they 
may  add  on  account  of  merit;  that  I  was  received 
among  the  great  of  Rome,  both  statesmen  and  gen- 
erals; that  I  was  of  short  stature,  prematurely  gray, 
fond  of  the  sun,  of  quick  temper,  yet  easily  appeased. 
If  any  one  chance  to  ask  my  age,  let  him  know  that  I 
had  seen  44  Decembers  when  Lollius  accepted  Lepidus 
as  his  colleague. 

Ut  quantum  generi  demas,  virtutibus  addas ; 
Me  primis  urbis  belli  placuisse  domique, 
Corporis  exigui,  praecanum,  solibus  aptum, 
Irasci  celerem,  tamen  ut  placabilis  essem. 
Forte  meum  siquis  te  percontabitur  aevum, 
Me  quater  undenos  sciat  implevisse  Decembris 
Conlegam  Lepidum  quo  dixit  Lollius  anno. 


TO  AUGUSTUS  CAESAR 

THE  FIRST  LETTER  OF  THE  SECOND  BOOK 

Mommsen  calls  the  three  epistles  of  the  second  book  '  the 
most  grace! ul  and  delightful  works  of  all  Roman  literature."  The 
present  epistle  to  Augustus  has  always,  says  Wilkin,  been  a 
favorite  one,  and  other  editors  assure  us  that  it  ought  to  be  con- 
sidered one  of  the  most  valuable  that  has  been  left  us.  Pope 
says  that  the  epistle  shows  n  that  Augustus  prohibited  all  but 
the  best  writers  to  name  him."  This  is  the  position  which 
Horace  here  wishes  him  to  do.  It  is  the  only  letter  Horace 
addressed  to  Augustus  and  it  is  probably  the  last  one  he  wrote, 
being  composed  about  B.  C.  13  when  this  author  was  fifty-two 
years  old. 

It  is  usually  supposed,  on  the  authority  of  Suetonius,  that  it 
was  written  by  imperial  command  ;  but  it  sounds  to  one  now  as 
if  the  composition  were  rather  urged  upon  Horace  by  the  Poets' 
Club  of  that  day,  for  it  is  in  effect  an  apology  for  the  poets  and 
especially  for  the  good  poets  who  refused  to  write  for  the  stage, 
or  for  anything  but  just  art's  sake. 

Horace  praises  Augustus,  but  not  at  all  more  than  is  deserved 
and  with  no  superlatives.  Furthermore,  he  declines  and  not  very 
graciously  to  write  any  epic  in  praise  of  his  Emperor.  He 
assures  Augustus  that  he  can  not  write  good  poetry  of  this  kind 
and  adds  that  he  will  not  write  verse  which  will  be  used  by  the 
store- keepers  to  wrap  their  perfumes  and  groceries  in  ;  and  with 
this  declaration  he  ends. 

Cum  tot  sustineas  et  tanta  negotia  solus 
Res  Italas  armis  tuteris,  monbus  ornes, 
Legibus  emendes :  in  pubhca  commoda  peccem, 
Si  longo  sermone  morer  tua  tempora,  Caesar. 


56  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

You  are  bearing  the  heavy  burden,  Caesar,  of  many 

and  very  serious  affairs,  and  you  are  bearing  it  alone ; 

you  are  protecting  Italy  with  your  armies  and  you  are 

reforming  its  morals  and  improving  its  laws.    Under 

these  circumstances,  for  me  to  take  your  time  with  a 

long  letter  would  be  to  sin  against  the  common  welfare. 

Horace  shows        Romulus,  Father  Liber  and  Castor  and  Pollux  were 

that  merit  is  not  admitted  after  death  to  the  temples  as  Gods  because 

til  airterdaath    °^  tne*r  grea*  anc^  worthy  deeds  ;  but  while  they,  being 

still  on  earth,  were   subduing    nature,  improving  the 

human  race,  bringing  civil  wars   to  end,  establishing 

property  in   land   and   founding   cities,   they  grieved 

because  they  did  not  receive  the  respect  and  approval 

Ploravere  suis  non  respondere  favorem 
Speratum  meritis. 

they  hoped  for  and  their  good  deeds  deserved.  Even 
Hercules,  who  killed  the  dreadful  Hydra  and  destroyed 
those  other  well-known  monsters  and  thus  accom- 
plished the  tasks  which  fate  imposed  on  him,  found  that 
envy  could  be  overcome  only  by  his  death.  Any  man 
who  outshines  all  other  men  in  power  and  valor, 
arouses  jealousy  by  his  own  excellence ;  yet,  no  sooner 
is  he  dead,  than  those  who  are  jealous  and  envious  of 
him  living,  at  once  begin  to  venerate  him. 

Urit  enim  fulgore  suo,  qui  praegravat  artis 
Infra  se  positas,  extinctus  amabitur  idem. 

Not  to  i         ^ut  to  you»  Caesar,  we  give  honors  as  soon  as  they 
Caesar's  case,  are  due,  while  you  are  still  with  us ;  we  set  up  altars 


The  First  Letter  of  the  Second  Book         57 

on  which  to  swear  in  your  name  and  we  frankly 
admit  that  your  equal  among  men  never  has  appeared 
before  and  will  never  appear  again. 

*  *  *  *  * 

Yet  these  your  willing  subjects  who  are  so  wise  and 
just  when  they  put  you  above  all  our  own  national 
heroes,  and  above  all  Greek  heroes  as  well,  decide  The  Romans 
other  matters  in  a  very  different  way  and  by  a  very      ... e  . 

j*  <  .         writings  just 

different   standard.    They    dislike    and   even   despise  because  they 

everything  new,  and  everybody  not  exalted  by  death,  were  antique. 

They  are  such  servile  worshippers  of  the  old  that  they 

declare  that  the  Laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  enacted 

by  the  Decemvirs,  the  treaties  made  by  the  kings,  with 

Gabii  or  stern  Sabines,  the  books  of  the  priests  and  the 

sayings  of  ancient  soothsayers  are  all  from  the  Muses 

speaking  on  our  own  Mount  Alba.    If,  now,  because 

the  oldest  writers  of  Greek  literature  are  also  the  best, 

Roman  authors  are  to  be  rated  by  the  same  rule  of  age, 

then  there  is  nothing  we  may  not  say  ;  the  olive  has  no 

stone,  the  nut  has  no  shell  and  black  is  white  ;  we  have 

.     .     .     Non  est  quod  multa  loquamur: 
Nil  intra  est  olea,  nil  extra  est  in  nuce  duri, 

reached  the  limit  of  excellence,  and  we  surpass  the 

Greeks  in   painting,  music  and   athletics, — which   is 

absurd ! 

If  age  improves  our  writings  as  it  does  our  wine,  I  This  is  no 

would  like  to  know  just  how  many  years  it  takes  to  «iienooof 

1  11  1       1  *  It  A     g°°d  writing. 

make  a  poem  good.    Let  me  ask  this  question,  "A 


58  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

Si  meliora  dies,  ut  vina,  poemata  reddit ; 

Scire  velim,  chartis  pretium  quotus  arroget  annus. 

writer  who  died  a  hundred  years  ago,  ought  to  be  called 
ancient  and  therefore  perfect;  or  is  he  merely  modern 
and  therefore  worthless  ?  Let  us  set  a  limit  to  this 
period  of  ripening  and  so  end  all  disputes  about 
greatness." 

"Well  ",  you  say,  "  we  will  call  any  author  who 
died  a  hundred  years  ago  a  veritable  ancient  and 
therefore  a  classic." 

"Very  good  ",  I  reply,  "  then  an  author  who  has 
been  dead  less  than  a  hundred  years  by  so  much  as 
one  month  or  one  year,  where  shall  he  be  put,  among 
the  ancient  and  perfect  or  among  the  modern  and 
worthless?" 

"Why  surely  ",  you  reply,  "  he  who  misses  the 
antiquity  of  perfection  by  merely  a  month,  or  even  by 
a  year,  may  still  be  properly  ranked  among  the  ancient 
and  great." 

"  I  accept  your  exception,  thank  you  ;  and  now,  like 
the  man  who  bared  the  horse's  tail  by  pulling  one  hair 
at  a  time,  I  take  away  this  one  year  from  the  hundred ; 
and  then  I  take  another,  and  another ;  until  the  man 
who  calculates  greatness  with  the  help  of  the  calendar 
and  says  merit  comes  by  a  mere  multiplication  of  years, 
and  admires  nothing  until  death  has  set  on  it  his  seal 
of  approval,  finds  his  standards  of  measurement  have 
diminished  to  mere  zero." 


The  First  Letter  of  the  Second  Book         59 

The  poet  Ennius  had  sense  and  force  and  was  called  Horace  gives  a 
a  second  Homer,  but  he  was  called  careless  in  his  list  of  the 

1      M  J   1  L'         Roman  classics 

writings ;  everyone  reads  INaevius  now  and  learns  him       ,     . 

.  'lit-  i    al       time- 

by  heart,  just  because  an  old  poet  is  a  holy  thing.     It 

is  still  disputed  which  of  these  ancients  is  the  best : 

Pacuvius  for  his  learning,  Accius  for  his  noble  writing, 

Afranius  because  he  equals  Menander,  Plautus  because 

he  follows  Epicharmus,  Caecilius  for  his  seriousness, 

Terentius  for  his  charm. 

These   are   the   poets   whose   works  the   Romans     . 
applaud  ;  they  crowd  the  theatre  to  hear  them  and  hold  Andronicus 
them  to  be  the  only  poets  from  the  time  of  Livius.         wrote  the  ^ 

Sometimes  the  people  are  right,  sometimes  they  are  J1^  ^ia 
wrong. 

Interdum  volgus  rectum  videt ;  est  ubi  peccat. 

Now,  I  bear  no  ill  against  the  poems  of  these  elder 
writers,  of  Livy  for  example,  and  think  they  should  be 
suppressed,  because  they  remind  me  always  of  my  early 
teacher  Orbilius  and  his  fondness  for  the  rod !  But  it 
certainly  does  amaze  me  that  they  should  be  called 
correct,  beautiful,  almost  perfection,  when  in  fact  it  is 
only  an  occasional  apt  and  well-chosen  word  and  a  few 
tolerable  lines  which  lead  one  to  approve  them  at  all. 

I  am  indignant  when  I  hear  a  poem  condemned,  not 
because  it  is  dull  or  lacks  polish,  but  simply  because  it 
is  modern ;  or  when  I  hear  the  critics  ask  us  to  read 
the  old  poets,  not  with  indulgence  for  their  failings,  but 
with  reverence  and  all  honor. 


and  habits. 


60  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

Indignor  quicquam  reprehendi,  non  quia  crasse 
Compositum  inlepideve  putetur,  sed  quia  nuper, 
Nee  veniam  antiquis,  sed  honorem  et  praemia  posci. 

The  change  in       "  tne  Greeks  had  in  their  day  despised  everything 
literary  taste    that  was  new,  as  some  of  us  do  now,  what  would  they 
have  left  to  become  the  old,  the  classic  and  the  well- 
thumbed  to-day? 

When  her  wars  were  over  and  Greece  began  to 
cultivate  the  lesser  arts  and,  under  a  sudden  access  of 
wealth,  even  to  cultivate  the  vices,  she  turned  first  to 
athletic  sports,  then  to  horse-racing ;  then  she  made 

Ut  primum  positis  nugari  Graecia  bellis 
Coepit  et  in  vitium  fortuna  labier  aequa, 
Nunc  athletarum  studiis,  nunc  arsit  equorum, 

sculptures  of  marble  the  fashion,  then  ivories  and 
bronzes  ;  then  she  gave  all  her  thought  to  painting,  soon 
to  music  and  next  to  the  drama.  She  was  like  a  little 
girl,  eager  for  a  new  toy,  and  tired  of  it  as  soon  as  she 
possessed  it.  What  is  there  that  a  man  can  love,  or 
hate,  without  change? 

Quid  placet  aut  odio  est,  quod  non  mutabile  credas  ? 

The  happy  times  of  peace  and  prosperous  fortunes 
have  always  had  these  effects. 

As  with  the  Greeks,  so  with  the  Romans.  Formerly 
it  was  everyone's  custom  and  pleasure  to  rise  early  and 
be  ready  for  business,  expound  the  law  to  clients,  lend 
money — always  on  good  security — and  learn  from  the 
elders,  and  then  to  pass  on  to  the  youth,  the  art  of 


The  First  Letter  of  the  Second  Book  6  / 

increasing  one's  income  and  of  cutting  down  useless 
expenses. 

Now  our  inconstant  people  has  changed  its  mind  and 
is  concerned  with  a  general  zeal  for  wnting.  The  boys 
and  their  austere  parents  together  dine  and  dictate  The  general 
verses,  their  heads  crowned  with  garlands.  Even  I  who  'age  In  . 

■  tor  wnting 

had  sworn  to  write  no  more  poems  am  found  a  greater  poetry. 

Mutavit  mentem  populus  levis  et  calet  uno 
Scribendi  studio :  pueri  patresque  severi 
Fronde  comas  vincti  cenant  et  carmina  dictant. 

liar  than  the  Parthians,  and  waking  before  the  rising  sun 
I  call  for  pen  and  paper  and  my  desk.  The  man  who 
does  not  know  how  to  sail  is  afraid  to  navigate  a  ship ; 
no  one  dares  to  give  physic  to  the  sick  unless  he  has 
learned  the  art.  Physicians  attempt  what  belongs  to 
physicians  and  the  weavers  weave  their  fabrics.  But 
we,  whether  skillful  or  untaught,  scribble  poems  at 
random. 

....  Habrotonum  aegro 
Non  audet  nisi  qui  didicit  dare ;  quod  medicorum  est 
Promittunt  medici ;  tractant  fabrilia  fabri : 
Scribimus  indocti  doctique  poemata  passim. 

Yet  the  cultivation  of  poetry  brings  some  benefits,  as 
you  shall  see. 

The  soul  of  the  poet  has  no  room  for  avarice  ;  he  Horace  praises 
loves  his  verse  and  this  alone  ;  over  the  loss  of  goods  by  ,he  charac,er 
fire  or  the  flight  of  his  slave,  he  laughs.    He  meditates  o{  lhe  poe, 
no  wrong  against  his  friend  or  pupil ;  he  lives  on  salad 


62  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

and  dry  bread.    Though  slow  and  unfit  for  war  yet  he 

is  useful  to  the  state,  if  you  admit  this,  that  great  things 

can  be  helped  by  the  small.    He  moulds  the  tender, 

Militiae  quamquam  piger  et  malus,  utilis  urbi, 
Si  das  hoc,  parvis  quoque  rebus  magna  iuvari. 

lisping  speech  of  the  boy  and  turns  away  his  ear  from 
vulgar  words ;  later  he  trains  his  mind  with  kindly  pre- 
cepts; a  corrector  of  envy  and  anger,  he  instructs  the 
rising  age  with  great  examples  ;  he  solaces  the  poor  and 
sick.  By  his  eloquent  prayers  he  implores  rain  from 
heaven,  averts  disease,  wards  off  impending  dangers, 
procures  peace  and  a  year  rich  with  harvests.  By  song 
the  high  gods,  and  by  song  the  shades  below  are 
appeased. 

Caelestis  implorat  aquas  docta  prece  blandus, 
Avertit  morbos,  metuenda  pericula  pellit, 
Impetrat  et  pacem  et  locupletem  frugibus  annum : 
Carmine  di  superi  placantur,  carmine  manes. 

[The    Roman    drama  sprang    from  the    religious 

festivals  in  which  the  ancient    swains  banded  rustic 

taunts  in  licentious  dialogue.    Later,  the  Grecian  drama 

was  brought  to  Rome,  and  then  appeared  the  comedies 

of  Plautus,  who   "  treads  the    stage  in  a  loose   and 

neglectful  manner."   His  aim,  says  Horace,  was  to  gain 

applause  and  fill  his  purse.] 

The       This  ambition  to  please  the  audience  discourages  and 

vulgarization  of  deters  from  the  stage  even  bold  poets.    The  people, 

°    °  who  are  in  the  majority  in  numbers  though  lacking  in 

worth  and  dignity,  unlearned,  dull,  constantly  stand 


The  First  Letter  of  the  Second  Book  63 

ready  to  fight  the  better  portion  of  the  audience.  They 

hiss  at  those  who  disagree  with  them.  In  the  middle 

of  a  good  play  they  call  for  the  bears  and  the  gladiators, 

Saepe  etiam  audacem  fugat  hoc  terretque  poetam, 
Quod  numero  plures,  virtute  et  honore  minores, 
Indocti  stolidique  et  depugnare  parati, 
Si  discordet  eques,  media  inter  carmina  poscunt 
Aut  ursum  aut  pugiles :  his  nam  plebecula  gaudet. 

for  these  delight  the  masses.    For  four  hours  or  more 

the  curtain  is  let  down  and  the  play  stands  still,  while 

the  squadrons  of  horses  and  the  troops  of  footmen  Vaudeville  is 

parade,  kings  are  dragged  in  triumph,  chariots  and  ?T™' 

litters,  carriages  and  ships   are  hurried  along,  and  the 

ivory    pageant    of    Connth    is    borne    in    procession. 

Democritus  would   have   laughed  to  see    the  vulgar 

crowd  staring  at  the  camels  and  white  elephants,  and 

he  would  have  thought  the  people  a  greater  show  than 

the  spectacle  itself.  As  for  the  authors  of  these  shows 

he  would  have  said  they  were  telling  their  story  to  a 

deaf  ass,  for  what  lungs  could  not  bray  the  noise  with 

which  our  theatres  ring. 

But  now,  lest  you  perhaps  think  I  am  maligning  those 
who  write  these  things,  and  successfully,  while  I  decline 
to  do  it,  pray  hear  my  excuse.  I  think  that  that  poet  is 
master  of  his  art  who  by  means  of  skilful  words  alone 
stirs  my  soul,  grieves  it,  soothes  it,  fills  it  with  his  imag- 
ined terrors,  and  like  a  magician  places  me  now  in 
Thebes,  now  in  Athens. 

Therefore  vouchsafe,  Caesar,  some  small  regard  for 


64  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

those  poets  who  prefer  to  trust  themselves  to  the  reader 
of  their  books  rather  than  risk  the  disdain  of  insolent 
spectators.  In  this  way  you  will  fill  your  Apollonarian 
library  with  choice  books  and  give  poets  courage  to 
frequent  with  greater  zeal  the  green  retreats  of  Helicon. 

Verum  age  et  his,  qui  se  lectori  credere  malunt 
Quam  spectatoris  fastidia  ferre  superbi, 
Curam  redde  brevem,  si  munus  Apolline  dignum 
Vis  complere  libris  et  vatibus  addere  calcar, 
Ut  studio  maiore  petant  Helicona  virentem. 

It  is  worth  while,  to  inquire  what  sort  of  men  shall 
be  the  guardians  of  your  virtue  so  signalized  in  peace 
and  war, — a  task  too  sacred  for  unworthy  poets. 

Sed  tamen  est  operae  pretium  cognoscere,  qualis 
Aedituos  habeat  belli  spectata  domique 
Virtus,  indigno  non  committenda  poetae. 

Your  favorite  writers,  Virgil  and  Varius,  do  not 
reflect  dishonor  on  your  judgment,  nor  on  the  bounty 
which,  with  many  praises  from  the  giver,  they  have 
received.  The  features  of  illustrious  men  are  not  better 
expressed  in  statues  of  brass  than  are  their  manners  and 
minds  by  the  work  of  the  poet. 

If  I  had  the  capacity  myself,  I  would  not  choose  to 
write  these  letters,  which  creep  along  the  ground,  rather 
than  attempt  to  describe  your  glorious  deeds,  the  coun- 
tries you  have  seen,  the  rivers  crossed,  the  forts  built  on 
the  mountains,  the  barbarous  kingdoms  subdued,  the 
wars  under  your  influence  brought  to  an  end  all  over 


The  First  Letter  of  the  Second  Book         65 


the  world,  the  temple  of  Janus  closed,  and  Rome,  under 

your  sway,  become  the  dread  of  the  Parthian. 

Nee  sermones  ego  mallem 

Repentis  per  humum  quam  res  componere  gestas, 
Terrarumque  situs  et  flumina  dicere  et  arces 
Montibus  impositas  et  barbara  regna  tuisque 
Auspiciis  totum  confecta  duella  per  orbem, 
Claustraque  custodem  pacis  cohibentia  Ianum 
Et  formidatam  Parthis  te  principe  Romam, 

For  neither  would  your  majesty,  great  prince,  receive 

my  small  songs  nor  will  my  modesty  attempt  a  theme 

for  which  I  have  not  the  strength.    Officious  zeal  is 

troublesome  to  him  to  whom  it  is  indiscreetly  addressed, 

especially  when  it  takes  the  form  of  poetic  verse.    I 

have  no  desire  to  be  disgraced  by  issuing  paltry  works, 

lest  when  I  receive  a  recompense,  I  be  put  to  the  blush, 

and  later  packed  up  with  my  poem  in  an  open  box,  I 

be  carried  to  the  street  where  drugs  and  perfumes  and 

pepper  are  sold  and  whatever  else  is  wrapped  up  in 

useless  scnbblings. 

Ne  rubeam  pingui  donatus  munere  et  una 
Cum  scriptore  meo  capsa  porrectus  operta 
Deferar  in  vicum  vendentem  tus  et  odores 
Et  piper  et  quicquid  chartis  amicitur  ineptis. 


Horace  declines 
to  write  the 
epic  of  Caesar's 
achievements. 


TO  JULIUS  FLORUS 

THE  SECOND  LETTER  OF  THE  SECOND  BOOK 


Julius  Florus  to  whom  this  letter  is  addressed  is  the  same 
young  man  to  whom  Horace  wrote  Epistle  I.  3.  a  few  years 
before.  Florus  was  again  away  from  Rome  in  the  train  of 
Tiberius  Nero.  It  appears  that  before  leaving  he  had  asked 
Horace  to  send  him  letters  and  verses.  Horace  begins  the 
present  Epistle  with  very  elaborate  excuses  for  not  having  writ- 
ten as  requested.  He  tells  a  story  and  applies  it,  with  a  sketch 
of  his  own  career.  The  burden  of  the  latter  part  of  the  letter 
is  the  sad  state  of  things  among  the  versemakers  of  Rome. 
Horace  says  he  is  tired  of  contemporary  poets  and  poetry. 

The  excellent  Davidson  says :  "  This  is  none  of  his 
meanest  pieces ;  it  is  full  of  excellent  precepts  for  Poetry  and 
Morality  and  all  interspersed  with  judicious  criticism  and  the 
finest  Turns  of  Satire." 

Flore,  bono  claroque  fidelis  amice  Neroni, 
My  dear  Florus,  friend  and  confidant  of  the  brave  and 
famous  Tiberius : 
Horace  begins       Suppose  a  dealer  wished  to  sell  you  a  slave  born  in 
some  Italian  town,  and  should  address  you  thus : 

"  This  young  man  is  of  fair  complexion  and  without 

a  flaw  from  head  to  foot.    You  can  have  him  for  four 

hundred  dollars.  He  is  a  household  slave,  quick  to  the 

He  imitates  the  no<j  0f  bis  master  ;  he  knows  a  little  Greek,  is  apt  at  all 

ter,0,   e  the  Arts,  and  you  can  mould  him  as  you  would  soft 

slave  dealers.  '  _ J 

clay ;  he  can  sing  well  enough  to  divert  you  at  the 


The  Second  Letter  of  the  Second  Book       67 

table.  I  know  that  over-praise  of  merchandise  which 
one  wishes  to  sell  lessens  confidence  in  the  seller ;  but 
I  am  not  pressed  to  sell ;  though  poor  I  am  not  in  debt. 
None  of  the  other  dealers  would  make  you  this  offer, 
and  I  shall  take  care  not  to  do  this  favor  to  anyone  but 
you.  As  to  his  faults,  he  has  once  gone  amiss ;  and  as 
was  natural  he  hid  himself  under  the  stairs  for  fear  of 
the  lash. 

n  Give  me  the  money,  unless  you  hesitate  on  account 
of  this  small  defect,  concerning  which  I  do  not  guarantee 


him. 


If  you  buy  the  slave  after  this,  the  dealer  will  get  his  „     . 

•>  J  °  It  a  slave  were 

price  and  will  not  fear  that  he  may  have  to  return  it.     guaranteed  and 

Now,  such  is  the  situation  between  you  and  me.  the  buyer 
You  bought  a  faulty  slave,  knowing  the  conditions  and  fau|ty  lhe  saIe 
the  law  ;  nevertheless,  you  pursue  the  dealer  and  annoy  could  be 
him  with  an  unjust  suit.    When  you  left  home  I  told  revo  e  ' 
you  I  was  an  indolent  man,  not  good  at  the  duties  of 
friendship,  and  that  you  ought  not  to  be  angry  if  no 
letter  from  me  ever  came  to  you.    But  how  has  this 
warning  helped  me  if  in  spite  of  it  you  do  not  notice  my 
protest?    You  complain  that  I  have  not  sent  you  the 
verses  I  promised. 

Listen :    A    Soldier  of    Lucullus's    Army,    having 
endured  many  Hardships  to  get  together  a  little  Money,  the  Soldier. 
happened   to   be   robbed  of    it   to   a  Penny,   as  he 
lay  quite  fatigued  snoring  in  the  Night.     Whereupon, 
like  a  raging  Wolf  fierce  with  famine,  angered  against 


68  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

both  himself  and  the  Enemy,  he  drove  one  of  the  royal 

Garrisons  from  a  Post  which,  as  they  say,  was  very 

strongly  fortified,  and  richly  stored  with  Booty.  Having 

signalized  himself  by  this  Action,  he  is  crown'd  with 

Rewards  of  Honour,  and  receives  four  hundred  dollars 

besides. 

It  happened  about  this  time,  that  his  General,  having 

a  mind  to  batter  down  some  Fort  or  other,  began  to 

address  the  same  Soldier,  in  terms  that  might  have 

inspired  even  a  Coward  with  Courage  :  "Go" ,  Said  he, 

"  my  Champion,  where  your  Valor  calls  you ;  go  in  a 

happy  hour,  to  reap  the  ample  Recompense  of  Merit. 

— Why  do  you  demur  "  ? 

To  which  he  made  this  shrewd  and  candid  reply : 

"  Let  him  who  has  lost  his  purse,  my  General,  let  him 

go  on  the  attack  you  design." 

n  Ibit. 
Ibit  eo  quo  vis  qui  zonam  perdidit n 

Horace  applies  ^  was  my  ^  *°  ^e  educated  at  Rome  and  to  be 
the  story  to  taught  from  Homer  how  much  angry  Achilles  hurt 
h.mself.  ^  cause  0f  t^e  Greeks.  Kind  Athens  added  a  little 
to  my  learning  so  that  I  could  perhaps  distinguish  the 
straight  from  the  crooked  and  feel  the  desire  to  seek 
after  truth  in  the  groves  of  Academus.  But  the  troub- 
lous times  removed  me  from  this  pleasant  spot  and  the 
tide  of  Civil  War  bore  me  to  arms,  without  experience 
and  no  match  for  the  sinews  of  Augustus  Caesar. 
After  the  battle  of  Philippi  had  left  me  humiliated  and 


The  Second  Letter  of  the  Second  Book        69 

with  clipped  wings,  lacking  in  house  and  lands,  the 
compulsion  of  poverty  led  me  to  make  verses.  But 
now,  having  more  than  is  needed,  what  medicines  could 
ever  sufficiently  purge  me  of  madness  if  I  did  not  think 
it  better  to  sleep  than  to  write  poetry  ? 

The  advancing  years  rob  us  of  everything  ;  they  have 
taken  from  me  jests,  love,  banquets  and  the  sports ;  and  complains  that 
now  they  proceed  to  take  from  me  my  poetry.  he  cannot 


H 


orace 


Eripuere  iocos,  venerem,  convivia,  ludum  ; 
Tendunt  extorquere  poemata:  quid  faciam  vis? 


write  verses 
now. 


What  then  would  you  have  me  do  ?  And  what  sort 
of  verses  shall  I  write  ?  for  not  all  praise  and  like  the 
same  kind.  You  are  fond  of  the  ode,  the  next  one 
loves  the  iambics ;  another  the  virulent  wit  of  Bion's 
satires.  If  I  have  three  guests  they  will  scarcely  agree 
about  what  food  I  shall  give  and  what  withhold ;  for 
what  one  forbids  another  commands,  and  what  one 
likes  is  sour  and  distasteful  to  the  other  two. 

Besides,  do  you  think  I  can  write  poems  in  Rome   | 
amid  so  many  cares  and  fatigues  ?  One  begs  me  to  go  The 
as  his  surety ;  another  asks  that,  leaving  all  my  own  annoyances  of 

,  |  ,.  ,  .  .  .  ~.  ,.  living  in  the 

concerns,  1  go  and  listen  to  his  writings.    I  he  one  lives  cit  o{  Rome 
at  the   Quinnal,  the    other   at  the  end  of  Aventinus, 
truly  a  commodious  distance,  yet  each  one  must  be 
seen  ! 

You  may  say  that  the  streets  are  free  and  nothing 
prevents  my  composing  on  the  way.    But  behold  !  the 


70  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

panting  builder  hurries  along  with  his  mules  and  por- 
ters ;  the  creaking  machine  lifts  aloft  a  stone  or  a  huge 
beam ;  dreary  funerals  dispute  the  way  with  unwieldy 
drays ;  here  runs  a  mad  dog ;  and  here  a  sow  all  over 
mire  rushes  by. 

Go  now  and  meditate  over  your  canorous  verses ! 

I  nunc  et  versus  tecum  meditare  canoros ! 

The  tribe  of  poets  loves  the  groves  and  it  flees  the 
cities  ;  they  are  true  clients  of  Bacchus,  who  delights  in 
sleep  and  shade. 

Scriptorum  chorus  omnis  amat  nemus  et  fugit  urbem, 
Rite  cliens  Bacchi  somno  gaudentis  et  umbra  : 

Would  you  have  me  sing  amid  this  ceaseless  uproar 
and  try  here  to  follow  along  the  almost  effaced  paths 
of  the  Ancients  ? 

If  a  man  of  genius,  who  has  chosen  for  his  retreat 
quiet  Athens,  who  has  spent  seven  years  in  study  and 
has  grown  old  in  books  and  cares,  goes  out  into  the 
streets  of  that  city  meditating  and  as  silent  as  a  statue, 
he  thereby  makes  the  people  shake  with  laughter.  If 
they  mock  at  this  old  dreamer  in  Athens,  how  can  you 
ask  me  to  play  the  same  part  in  Rome,  or  think  that 
amid  the  billows  and  commotions  of  the  city  I  am  able 
to  connect  words  that  will  awake  the  sound  of  the  lyre  ? 
Admiration  of  There  were  at  Rome  two  brothers,  a  rhetorician 
the  Augustan  ancJ  a  lawyer ;  they  held  such  opinions  of  each  other 
that  they  bestowed  on  each  other  pompous  eulogiums. 


The  Mutual 


The  Second  Letter  of  the  Second  Book        ?  I 

The  lawyer  called  the  rhetorician  a  second  Gracchus,  Caius  Gracchus 
and  the  rhetorician  called  the  lawyer  another  Mucius.  was  a  famous 
How  much  less  does  this  kind  of  silliness  affect  our  orator ;      e. 

were  several 
excitable  poets?  Mucii  who  were 

I  write  odes,  another  elegies,  and  if  we  can  believe  eminent 

each  other  they  are  pieces  wonderful  to  behold,  works 

of  art,  burnished  by  the  nine  Muses! 

n  Mirabile  visu 
Caelatumque  novem  Musis  opus  ! " 

Follow  us  in  our  gathering  and  see  with  what  a 

pompous  pose  we  look  upon  the  Temple  of  Apollo 

reserved  for  Roman  poets  !    Then,  if  you  have  leisure, 

just  take  the  trouble  to  listen  to  that  which  we  are 

reading  to  each  other,  for  which  we  give  each  other 

laurel   crowns !    Like  a  pair  of  Samnite  Gladiators,  The  Gladiators 

fencing  in  a  slow  duel  at  supper  time,  we  fight  each  fenced  to 

other ;  first  we  are  beaten,  then  we  beat  the  enemy  in  enter,am  l 

J     t      guests. 

our  most  equal  combat.  I  come  out  an  Alcaeus  at  his 
hands ;  and  he  at  mine,  becomes, — what  do  you  sup- 
pose?— nothing  less  than  Callimachus  !  or,  if  he  asks 
more,  I  call  him  a  Mimnermus,  and  he  feels  greater  These  Greek 

With  this  rare  title.  poets  were 

especially 

I  used  to  endure  much  while  I  was  myself  writing  imitated  by  the 
in  order  to  pacify  this  passionate  race  of  poets ;  I  too  Latms 
submissively  sought  the  applause  of  the  people ;  but  II  was  the 

hr    •  \       \  •  l  1    custom  of  poets 

aving  finished  my  poetic  career  and  recovered  t0  recite  their 

my  senses,  I  can  boldly  stop  my  ears  to  the  reciters.       verses  to  friends 

People  laugh  at  those  who  write  verses ;  but  the  and  adm,rers- 


72  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

writers  are  happy  and  greatly  pleased  with  themselves. 

If  the  critic  is  silent,  the  happy  creatures  are  just  as 

pleased  over  what  they  think  the  critic  has  said. 

Ridentur  mala  qui  componunt  carmina ;  verum 
Gaudent  scribentes  et  se  venerantur  et  ultro, 
Si  taceas,  laudant  quidquid  scnpsere  beati. 

But  if  one  wishes  to  write  a  genuine  poem,  he  will 

a,!em    e  assume  the  spirit  of  an  honest  critic;  he  will  dare  to 

poet  will  write,  r 

using  his  talent  remove  all  words  which  are  lacking  in  clearness,  or  have 

to  enrich  the    J;^  fQrce       J_[e  WJJ|  nappily  revjye  otner  WQrc|s  ^[^ 

have  been  long  dead  for  the  people,  and  will  bring  to 

light  proper  and  forcible  terms  which  were  in  use  at  the 

time  of  Cathegus  and  Cato,  but  are  now  lost  in  the 

dust  and  ruin  of  the  years.    He  will  also  adopt  new 

words,  as  his  need  requires;   forcible  and  clear,  like  a 

pure  and  limpid  stream,  he  will  pour  his  treasure  out 

and  enrich  Latium  with  a  more  copious  language ;  he 

will  prune  the    luxuriant  and  polish  the  rough  with 

salutary  art.    He  will  seem  to  write  with  the  utmost 

ease,  even  while  he  labors  most ;  like  a  dancer  who 

skilfully  plays  now  the  part  of  a  satyr,  now  that  of  a 

clumsy  Cyclops. 

But  who  would  be  a  poet  as  things  are  now  ?  I  would 

myself  rather  be  accounted  a  foolish  and  dull  writer, 

while   my   follies   please   me  or  at  least   escape   my 

notice,  than  be  wise  and  have  to  suffer  for  it. 

Praetulerim  scriptor  delirus  inersque  videri, 
Dum  mea  delectent  mala  me  vel  denique  fallant, 
Quam  sapere  et  ringi. 


The  Second  Letter  of  the  Second  Book       73 

There  lived  at  Argos  one  of  no  mean  rank,  who  The  gtory  o{ 
used  to  fancy  that  he  was  listening  to  admirable  tragic  the  happy 
actors ;  he  would  sit,  happy  and  applauding,  in  the  unabc' 
empty  theatre.  Yet  he  correctly  discharged  all  the 
duties  of  life ;  was  an  excellent  neighbor,  an  admirable 
friend  and  civil  to  his  wife ;  could  command  himself  so 
far  as  to  forgive  his  servants,  and  was  not  quite  a  mad- 
man though  the  seal  of  a  bottle  were  broken ;  and  he 
could  avoid  walking  against  a  rock  or  into  an  open  well. 
His  relations,  with  much  labor  and  care,  cured  him, 
expelling  the  disease  and  bile  by  doses  of  pure  helle- 
bore. But,  returned  to  his  senses,  he  straightway  says, 
n  By  Pollux,  my  friends,  you  have  been  not  my  deliv- 
erers, but  the  death  of  me,  for  you  have  robbed  me  of 
my  pleasure,  and  violently  taken  from  me  my  soul's 
dearest  illusion!  n 

n  Pol,  me  occidistis,  amici, 
Non  servastis",  ait,  n  cui  sic  extorta  voluptas 
Et  demptus  per  vim  mentis  gratissimus  error." 

After  all,  the  best  course  is  to  lay  aside  trifles,  leave  .,         , .  , 

puerile  things  to  the  children  for  whom  they  are  proper,  it  better  to  give 

and  not  try  to  modulate  words  to  the  Latin  lyre ;  but  up  Poe,ry  and 

rather  learn  to  live  wisely  and  follow  the  numbers  and  philosophy  of 

measures  of  true  life.  lite- 
Sed  verae  numerosque  modosque  ediscere  vitae. 

It  is  with  this  purpose  that,  having  communed  with 
myself  upon  them,  I  make  the  following  reflections : 
"  If  you  found  that  you  had  a  thirst  which  no  amount 


74  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

of  water  would  quench,  you  would  consult  a  physician. 
He  makes  ^»  however,  you  found  that  you  had  such  a  thirst  for 
certain   riches  that  the  more  you  had  the  more  you  wanted, 
would  you  dare  to  confess  it  to  any  one  ? 

If  any  herb  or  root  that  had  been  recommended 
did  not  relieve  your  wound,  you  surely  would  refuse  to 
continue  to  use  it. 

Now,  you  have  heard  certain  philosophers  say  that 
when  the  Gods  bestow  riches  upon  one,  they  also  take 
away  folly.    Yet,  although  you  are  yourself  no  wiser 
since  you  became  rich,  do  you  still  believe  this  philoso- 
phy ?  Or,  if  riches  have  indeed  made  you  prudent  and 
a  little  less  covetous  and  timid,  would  you  not  still  blush 
if  you  knew   there   was  in  the  world  a  man  more 
avaricious  than  yourself? 
Horace's  views        ^  tnat  De  vour  property  which  you  have  bought  and 
on  poetry  are  paid  for,  and  if  there  are  some  things,  as  lawyers  say, 
very  i  ea  istic  ^  w}1jcn  pOSSesslon  gives  claim,  then  the  field  that  feeds 

and  are  surely  x  ° 

no  addition  to  you  is  your  own ;  and  the  steward  of  Orbius  who  tills 
economics.  the  so{\  £nc]s  m  vou  njs  rea|  master.    For,  you  give  him 

money,  he  brings  you  the  products :  grapes,  chickens, 
eggs,  wine ;  you  thus  really  little  by  little  buy  the 
farm! 

But  in  reality  can  we  call  anything  the  property  of  a 
man  which  in  a  moment  of  fleeting  time,  by  free  grant 
or  sale,  by  violence,  or  last  of  all,  by  death,  may 
become  changed,  and  come  under  a  new  owner? 
Thus,  since  the  perpetual  possession  is  given  to  none, 


The  Second  Letter  of  the  Second  Book       75 

but  the  heir  of  one  crowds  close  upon  the  heir  of 
another,  like  wave  impelling  wave,  what  do  houses, 
what  do  lands  avail?  of  what  the  Lucanian  pastures, 
joined  to  those  of  Calabria,  since  death,  who  is  not  to 
be  bribed  by  gold,  mows  down  the  great  with  the 
small ? 

Gems,    marble,    ivory,     Tuscan    statues,   pictures,  The  different 
silver  plate,   robes  dyed  with  Getulian  purple ;  some  tastes  of  man. 
there  are  who  do  not  have  these  things,  and  some  who 
do  not  care  for  them.    Of  two  brothers  why  does  one 

Gemmas,  marmor,  ebur,  Tyrrhena  sigilla,  tabellas, 

Argentum,  vestes  Gaetulo  murice  tinctas 

Sunt  qui  non  habeant,  est  qui  non  curat  habere. 

prefer  idleness,  sports  and  fine  perfumes  to  the  revenues 
of  Herod's  palmtree  groves?  Why  is  the  other,  tho' 
rich,  still  restless,  drudging  from  morning  till  evening  The  natural 

Dives  et  importunus  ad  umbram  lucis  ab  ortu  emperamen 

S-i  n  ■       .  t  •.•  determines  this 

llvestrem  tiammis  et  rerro  mitiget  agrum,  , 

variety  ot 

in  improving  his  estate  ?    Our  genius  alone  knows  the  taste8, 
answer,  that  companion  who  controls  our  natal  star, 

Scit  Genius,  natale  comes  qui  temperat  astrum, 

the  god  of  our  human  nature,  mortal  like  ourselves, 
varying  in  feature,  fair  or  false. 

For  me,  I'll  freely  use  and  take  from  my  moderate  Horace 
store  as  much  as  my  needs  demand  without  fearing  describes  his 
what  my  heir  thinks  of  me,  when  he  finds  1  have 
bequeathed  him  no  more  than  was  given  me.  And  yet, 


Horace 
describes  his 


76  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

at  the  same  time,  I  will  wish  to  show  how  a  plain  and 
yet  a  merry  man  differs  from  a  spendthrift  debauchee ; 
and  a  thrifty  man  from  a  miser :  for  there  is  a  difference 
between  profusely  squandering  money  and  neither 
ideal  of  life,  spending  it  with  a  grudge,  nor  laboring  to  get  more ; 
I  will,  as  formerly  in  Minerva's  holidays  when  a  boy, 
enjoy  eagerly  the  exiguous  and  pleasant  hours. 

Let  sordid  poverty  be  put  far  away ;  then  whether 
I  sail  in  a  large  or  small  vessel,  I  will  voyage  quietly  over 
even  seas,  not  borne  with  swelling  sails  by  the  pros- 
perous northern  winds,  or  tossed  through  life  by  the 
adverse  south :  in  strength,  genius,  figure,  virtue, 
station,  fortune,  tho'  the  last  of  the  first,  still  I  am 
before  the  last. 

You  are  free  from  avarice,  'tis  well.  But  let  me  ask 
He  questions  vou>  naVe  other  vices  left  you  as  well  as  this  ?  Is  your 
soul  clear  of  vain  ambition  ?  Is  it  clear  of  fear  of 
death  and  angry  passions  ?  Can  you  laugh  at  dreams, 
magic  terrors,  miracles,  sorceresses,  goblins  of  the 
night,  and  Thessalian  prodigies  ?  Do  you  count  your 
birthdays  with  a  grateful  mind  ?  Are  you  tender  and 
against  various  forgiving  to  your  friends  ?  Do  you  grow  milder  and 
ignoble  better  as  age  comes  on  ?  What  avails  it  you  to  have 
but  one  out  of  your  many  thorns  of  evil  pulled  out? 
And,  finally,  if  you  cannot  live  with  decorum,  make 
way  for  those  who  have  learned  the  lesson.  You  have 
played,  you  have  eaten,  you  have  drank  your  fill ;  it  is 
high  time,  perhaps,  for  you  to  walk  off ;  lest,  having 


Florus  about 
his  other  faults 


He  cautions 


The  Second  Letter  of  the  Second  Book       77 

drunk  more  than  your  share,  youth,  which  plays  the 
wanton  with  better  grace,  jeer  and  shove  you  off  the 
stage. 

Tempus  abire  tibi  est,  ne  potum  largius  aequo 
Rideat  et  pulset  lasciva  decentius  aetas. 


LETTER  TO  THE  PISOS,  ON  THE  ART 
OF  POETRY 

THE  THIRD  LETTER  OF  THE  SECOND  BOOK 

Writing  verses  was  an  amusement  or  occupation  much  affected 
by  the  leisure  class  of  Augustan  times,  and  Horace's  Art  of 
Poetry  is  a  letter  giving  advice  to  the  Piso  family  as  to  the 
making  of  poetry  and  the  construction  of  plays.  It  is  not  a  sys- 
tematic or  complete  treatise  and  it  touches  on  no  deep  problems 
of  aesthetics  or  technique.  Indeed  it  begins  and  ends  with  an 
Horatian  pleasantry.  The  subject  does  not  appeal  to  a  modern 
reader  and  no  one  now  reads  the  poem  if  he  can  help  himself. 

Yet  it  is  one  of  the  famous  pieces  of  literature,  and  has  been 
perhaps  the  most  quoted  and  commented  upon  of  all  his  epistles. 
It  was  imitated  by  Boileau,  and  it  is  said  to  have  been  a  most 
important  factor  in  the  forming  of  French  prose.  The  letter  has 
still  many  passages  and  lines  that  stimulate  and  please  the 
reader.  Horace  even  in  talking  shop  is  never  dull  if  one  can 
get  some  feeling  for  his  extraordinary  and  ingenious  talent  in  the 
use  of  aptest  words  for  aptest  things.  The  epistle  is  interesting 
also  because  he  gives  us  here  his  views  of  the  drama,  and 
criticizes  the  stage  of  Augustan  times  in  a  way  which  would  now 
fit  the  shows  of  a  great  American  city. 

It  is  said  by  Marcilus  that  Augustus  organized  an  Academy 
in  Rome  consisting  of  twenty  poets,  orators  and  learned  men,  and 
gave  them  the  Temple  and  Library  of  Apollo  in  which  to  meet. 
Horace,  we  are  told  composed  this  Ars  to  give  expression  to  the 
views  of  these  immortals,  "  producing  thereby  one  of  the  most 
precious  monuments  of  antiquity."  There  is  considerable  doubt 
about  this  Academy,  however,  and  there  are  probably  monu- 
ments of  antiquity  more  precious  than  this  letter  to  the  Pisos. 
Parts  of  it  are  surely  without  interest  or  value  today,  except  as 


The  Third  Letter  of  the  Second  Boo\        79 

specimens  of  classic  Latin.    Therefore  we  present  only  portions 
of  the  letter. 

The  four  ages  of  man,  the  criticisms  of  the  drama  at  Rome, 
B.  C.  40,  the  praise  of  the  Poet  as  a  Priest  and  Teacher,  are 
some  of  the  parts  which  we  select  and  commend  to  the  Twen- 
tieth Century  reader  ;  and  we  make  our  apologies  to  the  Shade 
of  Horace  for  appearing  to  mutilate  and  "  feature  "  a  work  of  his 
presumably  careful  hours.  Yet  he  may  forgive  us  for  trying  to 
bring  about  that  time  of  which  he  speaks  in  addressing  his  book : 

Cum  tibi  sol  tepidus  plures  admoverit  aures. 

"When  the  temperate  sun  shall  collect  for  you  more  hearers." 
It  is  generally  believed  that   the  Ars  Poetica  was  one  of 

Horace's  latest  works  and  was  written  shortly  before  he  died. 

Some  are  of  the  opinion  that  it  was  left  unfinished  and  was 

published  posthumously. 

Other  very  good  authority  (Wilkin  )  says  that  it  was  written 

about  the  time  of  the  Epistles  of  the  first  Book  (  B.  C.  20  ) 

when  he  was  forty-five. 

Humano  capiti  cervicem  pictor  equinam 
Iungere  si  velit  et  varias  indicere  plumas 

If  a  painter  try  to  join  the  neck  of  a  horse  to  the  body 

of  a  man,  or  to  put  various  kinds  of  feathers  on  miscel-  Horace  argue» 

laneously  assembled  limbs ;  to  make,  for  example,  a    or  u,nily  an 

.ii  .  i*i  -i  simplicity. 

woman,  beautiful  to  the  waist,  end  in  the  tail  of  an  ugly 
fish,  would  you  not  smile  as  you  looked  at  the  result  ? 

Believe  me,  dear  Piso,  a  book  will  be  very  much  And  a8ainst  the 
like  such  a  picture,  if  the  ideas  are  confused  and  like 
the  night-mares  of  a  sick  man,  have  neither  beginning, 
or  end  in  a  coherent  form. 

It  often  happens  in  serious  and  weighty  productions 
that  one  or  two  brilliant  patches  which  stand  out  widely 
from  the  rest  are  inserted ;  as   when  the  grove  and 


80  Horace  :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

Inceptis  gravibus  plerumque  et  maga  prosessis 
Purpureus,  late  qui  splendeat,  unus  et  alter 
Adsuitur  pannus, 

altar    of    Diana    are    described,    or    n  The    winding 

"To  paint  a  current  of  a  stream  flowing  through  pleasant  fields  " 

cypress"  was  a  or    tne    glories    of    the    river    Rhine,   and    those    of 

expression  for  tne  watery  bow.    It  is  no  place  for  these  things.    One 

making  some  may  be  able  to  paint  a  cypress  well,  but  what  use  is 

in  armonious  jj^  jj       u  are  j^rec|  to  pajnt  a   ship-wrecked  sailor 

ornamentation.  •  l  * 

swimming  in  the  waves  for  the  shore.    In  fine,  what- 
Choose  a  ever  subject  you  choose  let  it  be  treated  simply  and 
subject  suited  harmoniously. 

to  your  ability. 

Denique  sit  quidvis  simplex  dumtaxat  et  unum. 

You  who  write  should  choose  a  subject  proper  to 
your  strength  and  consider  always  what  your  shoulders 
will  fail  to  bear  and  what  they  can  sustain.  If  your 
chosen  subject  is  suited  to  your  ability  there  will  be  no 
lack  of  spirit  or  effectiveness. 

This  if  I  am  not  mistaken  forms  the  excellence  and 

The  use  of  apt  beauty  of  poetic  method ;  that  the  poet  says  just  now 

what  should  just  now  be  said,  that  he  holds  back  the 

pressure  of  his  thoughts  till  he  can  select  the  right  and 

reject  the  wrong. 

You  must  be  delicate  and  cautious  in  the  choice  of 
The  use  of  new  WOrds,  but  you  will  elevate  your  style  if  by  a  happy 

words.  .  .  ill 

conjunction  you  give  an  old  word  a  new  meaning. 

It  has  been  and  always  will  be  permitted  to  coin  a 
word  if  it  is  formed  according  to  prevalent  usage. 


The  Third  Letter  of  the  Second  Boofy        81 

Most  of  us  poets  are  misled  by  insistence  upon  our 
idea  of  what  is  right.  I  try  to  be  brief  and  I  become 
obscure ;  aiming  at  smoothness,  we  lose  in  vigor  and 
spirit ;  attempting  the  sublime,  we  become  turgid.  Timid 
of  the  storm,  we  crawl  along  the  ground.    Thus  if  one 

Decipimur  specie  recti :  brevis  esse  laboro, 
Obscurus  fio  ;  sectantem  levia  nervi 
Deficiunt  animique  ;  professus  grandia  turget ; 
Serpit  humi  tutus  nimium  timidusque  procellae  ; 

lacks  art,  the  over  careful  avoidance  of  one  fault  leads 
to  another. 

In  vitium  ducit  culpae  fuga,  si  caret  arte. 

Homer  showed  in  what  measures  the  deeds  of  kings 
and  generals  and  the  stories  of  disastrous  wars  are  to  be 
written.  The  first  strains  of  plaintive  poetry  were 
appropriated  to  the  unequal  pentameters  of  the  elegy. 

The  muse  gave  to  the  lyre  power  to  celebrate  the 
gods,  the  victorious  fighter  and  the  horse  first  in  the  race, 
the  passions  of  youth  and  the  joys  of  wine. 

Listen  now  to  what  I  and  the  public  with  me  require 
as  qualifications  for  the  writing  of  plays.  If  you  would 
have  the  audience  hear  you,  applaud  till  the  curtain 
fall,  and  sit  till  the  actor  pronounce  the  epilogue ;  you 
must  note  well  the  temper  of  each  age,  and  assign  the 
proper  qualities  to  persons  of  varying  character  and 
years. 

The  boy,  who  has  just  learned  how  to  form  words  The  boy. 
and  accents  and  walk  with  a  firm  tread,  loves  to  be 


82  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

matched  at  play  with  his  fellows,  is  easily  provoked, 

or  appeased,  and  changes  every  hour. 

The  youth.       The  beardless  youth,  having  at  last  got  rid  of  his 

guardian,  is  happy  with  his  horses  and  dogs,  and  in 

the  sports  of  the  sunny  campus  ;  his  mind,  like  wax,  is 

soft  and  easy  to  be  formed  to  vice,   froward  to  his 

reprovers,    slow   in    providing    for    the  needs  of  life, 

lavish  of  his  money,  high-spirited,  amorous,  and  hasty  in 

abandoning  the  objects  of  his  love. 

Inberbis  iuvenis,  tandem  custode  remoto 
Gaudet  equis  canibusque  et  aprici  gramine  campi, 
Cereus  in  vitium  flecti,  monitoribus  asper, 
Utilium  tardus  provisor,  prodigus  aeris, 
Sublimis  cupidusque  et  amata  relinquere  pemix. 

The  man.  Qur  inclinations  changing  with  our  years,  the  temper 
of  middle  life  is  eager  in  pursuit  of  riches,  and  seeks 
to  multiply  friends,  is  ambitious  of  honour,  and  cautious 
of  venturing  on  an  action  which  soon  might  need  to  be 
undone. 

Old  age.  Many  infirmities  beset  old  age ;  either  because  an  old 
man  is  too  anxious  for  gain,  and  yet  pinches  himself, 
and  is  afraid  to  use  his  money ;  or  because  he  does 
everything  with  a  chilled  and  listless  spirit,  being  dilatory, 
languid  in  hope,  remiss,  greedy  of  a  longer  life,  peevish, 
apt  to  repine,  praising  ever  the  former  days  when  he 
was  a  boy,  censuring  and  forever  correcting  those  who 
are  younger  than  himself.  Our  flowing  years  bring 
along  with  them  many  advantages,  many  our  ebbing 
years  take  away. 


Qui  studet  optatam  cursu  contingere  metam, 
Multa  tulit  fecitque  puer,  sudavit  et  alsit, 
Abstinuit  Venere  et  vino ; 

Ars  Poetica 

He  who  is  eager  in  the  race  to  reach  the  wished-for  goal, 
endures  and  practices  much  ;  he  has  known  heat  and  sweat 
and  has  abstained  from  Venus  and  wine. 


The  Third  Letter  of  the  Second  Book        83 

The  part  therefore,  which  belongs  to  old  age  may 
not  be  ascribed  to  the  youth ;  nor  that  of  manhood  to 
the  boy ;  we  must  never  wander  from  what  is  suitable 
and  akin  to  each  period. 

An  action  is  either  represented  on  the  stage,  or  is  s 

related  to  have  happened.  The  things  that  enter  by  the  technique 

ear  affect  the  mind  less  than  those  which  fall  under 

the  faithful  scrutiny  of  the  eyes,  when  the  spectator  sees 

Segnius  inritant  animos  demissa  per  aurem 
Quam  quae  sunt  oculis  subiecta  fidehbus  et  quae 
Ipse  sibi  tradit  spectator  : 

for  himself.  You  must  not  however,  show  upon  the 
stage  things  which  are  more  fit  to  be  acted  behind  the 
scenes;  and  you  should  remove  many  actions  from  view 
which  an  eloquent  actor  will  soon  relate  to  his  audi- 
ence. Do  not  let  Medea  butcher  her  sons  in  the 
presence  of  the  spectators ;  or  impious  Atreus  cook 
human  flesh  upon  the  stage ;  nor  let  Progne  be  trans- 
formed into  a  bird,  or  Cadmus  into  a  serpent.  What- 
ever of  this  kind  you  set  before  me,  I  can  not  believe 
and  so  I  hate  it. 

A  play,  which  would  be  in  demand,  and  after  one 
representation  be  called  for  again,  should  not  be  shorter 
nor  longer  than  five  acts.  Nor  let  a  god  be  intro- 
duced, unless  a  puzzling  difficulty  occurs  worthy  a  god 
to  unravel;  nor  let  there  be  more  than  three  speakers 
in  one  scene. 


84  Horace :  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus 

O  thou  first-born  of  the  hopeful  youths,  though  you, 
He  tells  young  Piso,  have  been  trained  in  judgment  by  your  father's 
Piso  there  can  vojce)  ancj  are  yourself  wise ;  yet  remember  this  which 

be  no    .   .  .  .  .. 

mediocrity  in  *  impress  upon  you :  In  some  professions  mediocnty 
poetry,  and  tolerable  endowments  may  properly  be  allowed : 
an  average  lawyer  for  example,  or  advocate  at  the 
bar  is  far  from  having  the  talent  of  eloquent  Messala, 
or  the  knowledge  of  Cassellius  Aulus ;  yet  he  may  be 
held  in  esteem  :  but  not  gods,  or  men,  give  any  indul- 
gence to  middling  poets;  for  poetry,  designed  and 
invented  by  nature  for  improving  our  minds,  if  it  comes 
short  ever  so  little  of  the  top,  must  sink  to  the 
bottom. 

He  who  cannot  fence  refrains  from  the  contests  of  the 
Campus  Martius ;  and  he  who  is  unskilful  with  the  ball, 
or  quoit,  or  hoop,  does  not  meddlelayith  them,  lest  the 
ring   of  onlookers   raise  a  laugr^P  |^t  him :  but  he 
who  knows  nothing  of  poetry^mdares  compose.  Why 
not  ?  He  is  freeborn  and  a  gentleman ;  above  all,  pos- 
sessed of  an  equestrian  estate,  and  clear  of  every  vice ! 
^^  You  will  not  write  or  do  anything,  Minerva  unwil- 
Keep  yo^lB^Tyou  have  intelligence  and  judgment;  yet  if  you 
poems  nine      e]f  should  write  let  Moetius,  a   good  judge,  your 

years  before  6.     f      J      .5        ' 

you  publish  rather  and  me  read  it ;  and  keep  it  tor  nine  years 

them.  wjtn  y0ur  papers  at  home.    You  can  then  alter  and 

correct  it ;  but  the  word  once  sent  out  can  never  return. 

jjF.     Sound  judgment  is  the  ground  and  source  of  writing 

J  well.    The  Socratic  Dialogues  will  direct  you  in  the 


1 


ify*ffimwii 


The  Third  Letter  of  the  Second  Book         S5 

choice  of  a  subject ;  and  words  will  freely  come  when 
the  subject  is  well  digested.  The  writer  who  has  learned 
what  he  owes  to  his  country  and  to  his  friends;  with 
what  affection  a  parent,  a  brother,  a  stranger  are  to  be 
loved  ;  what  is  the  duty  of  a  senator,  what  of  a  judge ; 
what  the  part  of  a  general  sent  forth  to  war ;  such  a 
man  will  surely  know  how  to  do   justice  to  all  his 

characters. 

****** 

It  was  on  the  Greeks  that  the  Muse  conferred  her 
best  gifts,  inventive  genius,  a  vigorous  and  polished 
style ;  in  regard  to  these  things  they  were  sincerely 
covetous  of  honest  fame.  Among  us  Romans  there  are 
no  such  generous  ideals.  Our  Roman  youth  are  taught 
the  art  of  gaining  money ;  they  learn  by  long  computa- 
tions how  to  divide  a  pound  into  a  hundred  parts. 
n  Say,  Son  of  Albmus,  if  from  five  ounces  one  ounce 
be  subtracted,  what  remains  ?  "  If  you  answer :  n  Four 
ounces. "  n  Well  said,  my  boy  !  you  will  soon  be  able 
to  manage  an  estate."  "Add  an  ounce,  what  sum  will 
it  make  ?  n    "  Six  ounces." 

When  this  cankering  rust  and  itching  after  wealth 
affects  their  minds,  can  one  expect  that  our  authors 
will  compose  verses  worthy  to  live  and  to  be  preserved 
in  book-cases  of  polished  cypress? 

Whether  a  praiseworthy  poem  is  the  product  of  Whether 
nature  or  of  art  has  been  made  a  question.     For  my  po.cUy,  " '  e 
part,  1  do  not  see  how  study  without  a  nch  poetic  Qf  art. 


86  Horace  :  Quinlus  Horatius  Flaccus 

talent,  or  how  genius,  uncultivated  by  art  and  study  can 
avail :  So  much  does  the  one  need  the  other's  aid,  and 
amicably  conspire  to  the  same  end.  He  who  strives  to 
win  the  valued  goal  by  running,  has  done  and  suffered 
much  when  young :  he  has  sweated  and  been  pinched 
with  cold  and  has  abstained  from  women  and  wine. 
He  who  plays  the  Pythian  airs  first  studied  his  art  and 
was  subject  under  a  master.  This  study  is  necessary 
in  every  other  art,  but  now  it  is  enough,  says  the 
Roman,  to  tell  the  world :  "  I  compose  wonderful 
poems,  a  plague  take  the  hindmost ;  I  should  think  it  a 
disgrace  indeed  to  be  left  behind,  and  own  myself 
ignorant  of  an  art  I  have  not  learned." 

Orpheus,  the  divine  poet,  interpreter  of  the  gods, 
proclaims  the  reclaim'd  uncivilized  men  from  their  combats  and  their 
nobility  of  his  inhuman  food.  He  is  said  to  have  tamed  the  tigers  and 
art.    t  was  at  f  urious  {{ons>    Amphion,  builder  of  the  Theban  Wall, 

first  a  oacred  4 

profession,  we  are  told  moved  the  rocks  by  the  music  of  his  lyre, 
and  by  the  soft  allurement  of  his  song  led  them  wherever 
he  wished.  In  former  ages  the  poet's  wisdom  sought 
to  distinguish  public  from  private  good ;  things  sacred 
from  things  profane,  to  forbid  the  promiscuous  embrace, 
to  give  laws  to  the  married  state ;  plan  the  cities  and 
compile  the  fews.  So  honor  and  a  name  came  to  divine 
poets  and  their  works.  After  them  illustrious  Homer 
and  Tyrtaeus  by  their  poetry  stirred  heroic  souls  to  the 
feats  of  war.  In  songs  were  oracles  delivered  ;  the  way 
of  life  was  shown ;  the  favor  of  kings  was  asked  in 


The  Third  Letter  of  the  Second  Book         $7 

Pierian  strains ;  by  poetry  games  were  introduced  and 

thus  a  limit  put  to  the  labors  of  the  day. 

These  things  I  mention,  lest  you  may  not  be  ashamed 

of  the   Muse  who  tunes  the  lyre,  and  of  Apollo,  the 

god  of  song. 

Ne  forte  pudori 
Sit  tibi  Musa  lyrae  sollers  et  cantor  Apollo. 


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